The ElasticBand Theory
by sox1020
Summary: This is AH and AU. What started as a camp crush becomes a romance filled with turmoil, as living across the country with not much money to spare and parents who want the best for their children become serious obstacles in ExB relationship. lemons!
1. Chapter 1

I own none of these characters, Stephanie Meyer created them, I just made them human and put them in this strange situation, enjoy.

-Summer 2003-

The Beginning

BPOV

I had always wanted to go to summer camp. For years I had watched my friends go to science camp, lacrosse camp, music camp, hundreds of options at your fingertips, and you spend the summer doing the hobby you love. Lucky for me, Mum had to go abroad for the summer and had registered me for sports camp; and I would be doing ballet and baseball, though ballet was simply a pathetic attempt to improve my possibly lethal clumsiness. Baseball was my all-time favourite sport. I was never more alive than when I stepped up to bat, or ran a home run. One of the best moments of my life was catching the last batsman out, which consequently won us the game. I played Little League when I was a kid, and then went off to play for the Jacksonville Suns, in a junior league. Now I got to play with other kids my age who shared the same passion as I did. Mum put me on the plane at Jacksonville and within three hours I was in Charlotte, North Carolina. The sun shined so bright on my translucent skin that it gleamed like diamonds. It was weird saying goodbye to my mother. I had grown up without my father as my parents had divorced in the first few months of my life; I spent odd summer holidays with him in his rainy, grey skied hometown: Forks, Washington. Naturally my mother was in floods of tears at the gate, waving me off, with half her mind wanting to cancel the entire arrangement, no doubt. She had never let me travel a large distance without her or my dad, Charlie, even though I was the more responsible of the two of us. I missed her as soon as I stepped onto the plane. Then reminded myself that I had wanted this for years, I did possess a functioning mobile phone, and I was a mere plane journey away if anything went wrong.

There was a bus that took a ton of kids who had come by plane like me to the camp. We sang songs all the way there and so far, it was like my dream had become a reality. The bus pulled up to a cabin so large you could have probably fit my house into it (my house isn't that big) and in large multi-coloured letters was the sign MESS HALL. Yep this was definitely my dream coming alive before my very eyes. A crowd of other kids were grouped round a notice board trying desperately to find their cabin assignments. All I could gather about our cabins was that they were strictly same sex, no exceptions. Evidently due to the fact that the camp was for 14-16 year olds, they had had problems with mixed cabins before… they definitely had one less person to worry about with me here. I had never had much to do with boys before, though I had never noticed that I was missing out on anything in particular. I had been brought up with a mother with lessons like, "Boys are trouble" and "Never get married before you're thirty", even though these philosophies may not have been directed at me specifically, I followed them all the same.

Finally, after most people had located their cabins, I finally got a look at the board. I was in a four-person cabin. This suited me fine; three was the perfect number of girls to make friends with. I have never been overly popular; I had always had a small but close group of friends. I am also fairly laidback about pretty much everything; I usually go with the flow, so girls usually find me easy to get along with. I just hate lying; it is my ultimate pet-hate. I also hate double standards, two-faced girls who are nice to you on your own, but in a gang of people suddenly you don't exist because you aren't cool enough or popular enough. I hope the girls in my cabin aren't like this. Suddenly I considered that there was a possibility that they may just not like me, and I would be stuck with them is an enclosed environment for five whole weeks… Oh dear…

Deep breath, just be your normal self, Bella, how could they possibly not like you?

Suddenly I heard a high-pitched scream… what the hell?

"Oh my God, I'm so happy you are here, I have been sitting on the floor for like half an hour and you are my first cabin buddy to arrive." "My name is Mary Alice Brandon by the way, but everyone calls me Alice… wow I really need to breathe more in my monologues. What's your name?"

"Um… Isabella Marie Swan, but everyone calls me Bella, nice to meet you."

Great! She is just the kind of girl I like spending time with; upbeat, funny, and friendly. Not that it matters, but she is also beautiful, like a model, but healthy looking, with spiky black hair, and a figure most girls would die for. She was porcelain white, quite possibly the only person I had ever met who could compare their skin colour to mine and be whiter, and her face was flawless, not a blemish or hint of remaining childhood puppy fat. On the contrary, her cheek bones were prominent and all her features seemed to be precisely the right proportion with each other. Her wide, expressive eyes were a strange ochre or golden colour, like honey or butterscotch. She also dressed fabulously, all of her clothes close fitting and highly flattering. They all looked like they were from designer origins.

I'm not overly obsessive about clothes, but I do attempt to look presentable when appropriate. I'm such a tomboy clothes-wise. I never wear figure hugging clothes and I never wear revealing clothes either, I'm just not that confident with myself yet, I am only 15.

Anyway, Alice and I started talking and getting to know each other. She was from New York City, she was an only child and had unlimited spending allowances as she had her own credit card. Her father was a large investment banker in the city and her mother had a group of friends that were a higher priority than Alice at all times. I was surprised that even with such a spoilt upbringing, she was the least selfish, modest and kind girl. I half expected a brat once she told me about her dad, but I was happily mistaken. I told her about myself, family, Jacksonville etc. She was strangely very interested in my life, being so different than her own. Then we started to talk boys…

"Well I've had one boyfriend before, but we only went on three dates, then I broke up with him after our first kiss because his mouth was brimming with saliva. He put me off kissing for life!" Alice fell about laughing at her ghastly memory.

"Well I've never had a boyfriend or a first kiss; I don't really go out much…" I admitted this secret information, I was also aware that I was blushing a deep scarlet, but Alice didn't laugh at me, she smiled and then squealed with excitement…

"Yay, we have to get you a boyfriend while we are here, then it can be like a summer thing and then you have some experience. We'll both try and get boyfriends and we have to share all gory details if anything happens, agreed?"

"O.k., but Alice, please don't set me up with a total creep"

"Bella, I've barely known you five minutes and you are already my friend, and I don't hurt or embarrass my friends, unless they embarrass me, of course". "So what sport are you here for? I'm here for ballet, I love it, and it is so graceful and intimate and passionate".

"Well I am technically here for baseball, but I am taking ballet lessons too, just don't stand too close to me, I'm a total klutz and generally hurt people within a metre radius of myself" At the word "baseball" Alice's mouth gaped...

"Oh my God, you are so going to get a boyfriend playing baseball. Guys get really impressed if girls can play guy sports well, also if you can play video-games they love it. Do you play well, please don't tell me you're a spastic at it?"

"No, I've been playing my whole life. If I'm being arrogant I would say I was good. But I'm not arrogant, so I guess I am pretty good. I could definitely take a guy on."

"Fabulous! This boyfriend plan is going to be easy. You will find a gorgeous baseball player, and I will find some hunk who just happens to like ballet dancers. God, I wish the other girl in our cabin would hurry up, I want to unpack and pick a bed."

"What do you mean, Alice, isn't there supposed to be 2 more girls in this cabin? And why don't you just pick a bed since you got here first, then I'll pick one. None of these beds are bad so the girl still coming will have to accept that if you snooze, you lose."

"I love your logic Bella. But there is only one other girl coming, one of the camp leaders said. I guess the other one dropped out. Alright, I'll have the one by the window, for some reason I reckon the closet is bigger. Will you take the one next to me; I don't want the other girl to take it if she isn't as lovely as you". I'm am so lucky to have been put with Alice. I had barely known her ten minutes and she had already accepted me.

"Thanks Alice, sure I'll take it. Oh, just in time, the new girl is coming…"

A staggeringly beautiful girl was walking up the steps to the cabin door. She had silky blonde hair, naturally redder lips, and pale skin to match Alice and mine, though she was the darkest of us. She was smiling; I hoped that was a good sign, as I crossed my fingers.

"Hi, I'm Rosalie. What are your names?" As she said this, she dumped her stuff on one of the remaining beds with no comment that we had not considered her when picking ours. My first perceptions are that she is laidback, fun, beautiful definitely and I would bet my holiday's allowance she was a ballet dancer, maybe the camp fixed it that way?

"Well I'm Alice and she's Bella. It's just the three of us in this cabin, so we are going to have loads of fun. I hope you like painting your nails?" Alice was welcoming to Rosalie, who immediately answered,

"I love having my nails painted, and having facials, we should have a spa night or something and pamper each other. Hey, you both look like ballet dancers; I am too, that is why I'm here."

"Yeah, I am, Bella is too but she is mostly here for baseball."

"Cool. So… have you seen any hot guys yet…" and the boy talk begin where Alice and I had paused. After following conversations, I found out that Alice was 2 months younger than me and Rosalie was technically in the year above but her birthday was late in the academic year, so she was only 4 months older than I was.

A bell sounded from the yard, evidently the intention was to summon all the campers. So we all went outside and sussed that we were splitting into our sports groups to become acquainted before our "training" began in the morning. I waved goodbye to Rose and Alice and headed towards a sign saying "BASEBALL".

Just before reaching the group, I caught a glimpse of the most beautiful boy I had ever laid eyes on. He was pale like me, with gorgeous green eyes and messy bronze coloured hair. He was oddly quite toned for a boy who looked no more than 16, though he could have passed for 18 if he had wanted to. His face was the picture of perfection. _Stop it Bella, just take a deep breath and join your group, you only just got here, no need to make a fool of yourself already._

We all sat in a circle and introduced ourselves and told the coach a brief summary of our experience. _Right it's his turn, just listen for his name._

"Hi, my name is Edward Masen, I'm 15 years old, and I've been playing baseball since I was old enough to hold a bat, and run, of course".

"That's great Edward, we will look forward to seeing you play tomorrow then" the coach smiled at him. _Yes, I can't wait to see you play tomorrow either, I wonder if he is better than me, SHUT UP BRAIN!_

The boy next to me gave me a nudge and I realised that it was my turn and I was just staring at Edward. I then realised that the whole group was now staring at me, waiting for me to speak. I felt my cheeks turn almost purple with embarrassment.

"Oh, sorry, I'm Bella, I'm 15 and I was in Little League when I was younger and then went on to play in a junior league with the Jacksonville Suns, we were league champs" _O.k. you just crossed into the bragging zone, time to stop talking. _

"That is some impressive experience Bella, I look forward to seeing you play tomorrow." _Great, the coach likes me and… is Edward staring at me now?_

"Right everyone, go get some rest and a good night's sleep tonight. I have a rep at this camp for being the toughest coach, I will send you home if you don't put enough effort in because you are tired, got it?"

"Got it", we were all internally groaning… just my luck to get the toughest coach; I hope he is the best.

Just then I felt someone hold me back as I turned to head back to my cabin. To my shock and dismay, a pair of penetrating emerald eyes met my gaze. Edward.

"Sorry… I, well I, I just wanted to introduce myself, I'm Edward, well you already know that, but, I, well I just wanted to say that since we seem to have the most experience, that maybe if you wanted to practice with me sometime, then, well, that would be … cool. Kay see you later." And then he just walked away… what the hell?

Back in the cabin, I spilled everything to Alice and Rose…

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Wow that was a long chapter, they won't all be like that, I just wanted to get the ball rolling with Edward… read on to see who Rosalie and Alice have a crush on. PLEASE REVIEW!!! 


	2. Chapter 2

I wish I created these characters, but sadly the fantastic Stephanie Meyer did, I just dumped them in this camp!

Chapter 2

Boy-catching

BPOV

"Bella, why do you have that look on your face?"

"What face?" They were just like my mother. She always did call me her open book, how did Alice already know my looks?

"That face that looks as if you are hiding something, I haven't even seen it before and I know that's what it means, you are so easy to read". Fantastic, I'll never be able to keep anything from Alice, ever.

"C'mon Bella", now Alice has got Rose interested, "whatever it is, you can tell us, how bad could it be?"

"Alright, I sort of met a guy today"… I'm just waiting for the screams of glee from Alice that her master plan has begun to work without her doing anything.

Then came a flurry of questions. I couldn't even hear half of them. The ones I caught were, "What's his name?", "How old is he?" and "What did you and him talk about?". Right, this could take a while to explain.

"Ok, ok, his name is Edward, he is 15 and he plays baseball like me. He came up to me when we were dismissed by the coach and said something about us having similar standards and if I wanted someone to practise with then he wouldn't mind, then he sort of ran off". Ha, their faces are priceless trying to rap their heads around all that information! I bet Alice pipes up first.

"Hold on", how did I guess? "he ran away? What was he like when he was talking to you?"

"Well he was really nervous, I mean, come on, I'm a human being for crying out loud. I didn't really have a chance to respond. He just stumbled through what he was going to say and ran off, it was so odd"

"Well have you seen you recently Bella?" I was puzzled by Alice's question.

"What do you mean?"

"Jesus Bella!" Rosalie pitched in, "You are stunning, thin, and completely obsessed with baseball like he is, so how he could not be nervous? You are his dream girl! And you know 15-year-old boys, they are all unsure of themselves because they are all starting to hit puberty, at last. He doesn't know how to act around you because he has reached a stage in his life when he has realised that girls don't have to be just friends like when you are little. He is confused, cut him some slack."

"And you are so doing that practice session" Trust Alice to be the exact opposite to Rosalie and be more concerned with our boyfriend plan than the boy's feelings.

APOV

Great the bell, that means meeting a whole load of stuck up ballerinas who only eat celery all day. At least I have Rose. I do hope Bella is alright on her own.

"Wow, Rosalie, check out those footballers, they are burning me they are so hot! I get shogun on the blonde one." She probably didn't notice, but I was dead serious about that shotgun. He is definitely the most beautiful, sexy guy I have yet had the pleasure to encounter.

"Fine by me, I wanted the muscled one anyway. His brown curls are so sexy"

"Rosalie, you minx" I was shocked Rosalie was so upfront with her emotions. Just the way she talked made it clear to others that she was senior to Bella and me.

"Just wave innocently; they have to be at least 15, if not 16. They are heading towards us, oh my gosh, is my hair o.k.?"

"Rose, you hair is perfect, now be cool, o.k.?"

The blonde one spoke first,

"Hey there, I'm Jasper and he's Emmett. Do you girls need help finding your station? We've been here before so we know where everything is." So helpful, I may just collapse my heart is racing so fast.

"Hi I'm Alice and this is Rosalie, don't worry, we know where the ballet studio is, but thanks, maybe we'll see you guys later? I hear there is going to be a barbeque tonight, meet us by the bonfire?" Shit, could I have been anymore forward? No, probably not. He probably thinks I'm a total freak.

"You can count on it" Maybe not. That means I have a date with Jasper. I may melt. His smile is a gift from God. He is so toned and gorgeous and I am already smitten… I wonder if Rosalie likes Emmett. Now what on Earth will I wear?

RPOV

The blonde one spoke first,

"Hey there, I'm Jasper and he's Emmett. Do you girls need help finding your station? We've been here before so we know where everything is."

Alice captured the blonde's attention while Emmett took a step closer to me, God he is hot.

"Hey, um… how old are you?"

What a line! He is so cut, though, so he pulls it off.

"I'll be 16 before the summer is over… how come you're here, I thought the camp only went up to 16, you look like 17 or 18…" Flattery, worked like a charm, he's blushing. How does he make it look so hot?

"Oh, well, I'm 16, so this is my last year. I've been coming here since I was fourteen, it's a great camp. I have a feeling this year is going to top the rest though…"

What does that mean?

"And why is that" Play it safe, tease him a little, this is so fun.

"Well because usually the ballet dancers aren't half as pretty as you… and well, I was wondering, I mean, I know we just met but, um… would you be my date to the barbeque tonight?"

"Meet you by the bonfire, I'll be with Alice and maybe my friend Bella, come find me." I think my heart just exploded with joy, I've barely been her 4 hours and I already get asked out! I knew there was a reason I wanted to come here.

"Oh, shit, Alice we're late, we'll see you guys by the bonfire, at 7" I winked teasingly at Emmett and then pulled Alice away from Jasper.

"We have got a lot of gossip to tell Bella later, I can't believe it is only the first day!"

We ran full pelt to the ballet studio, we would tell Bella everything later…

We arrived at the ballet studio 2 minutes late. The angry look on our teacher's face was scary as we tried unsuccessfully to slip in unnoticed.

"My students are never late. Three late arrivals and I will send you home. I will let you off today, though why I should I do not know. Now get to the bar before you waste any more of my time. I assume you girls have stretched?"

I couldn't face telling her we hadn't, so Alice and I whispered that we had, too nervous to speak any louder.

Alice and I did not speak for the duration of the class, for fear of irritating the monster further. The fact was that we didn't want her to hate us all summer.

We left the dance studio at the end of the session and ambled slowly back towards our cabin. We found we had to walk past the football field to get back and saw jasper and Emmett on the field. They evidently hadn't been released from their prison yet. Just then Emmett looked over and I gave him a little wave. He waved back subtly.

"Alice, we have to go now, I need your help finding an outfit for tonight. I have to look good"

"C'mon then" Alice sounded all too willing, thank goodness.

_**Back in the cabin…**_

BPOV

"This is brilliant Bella, our boyfriend plan is well and truly underway! Rose and I have met guys too. They are footballers, seriously hot. Rose's guy is 16, which is great since she is nearly 16, and mine is 15, so we are all really similar ages to our dates!!! Jasper is so gorgeous, and blonde, with golden eyes. I literally thought I was going to melt when he looked at me!"

"Emmett is so dreamy, I could have kissed him there and then… except I have slightly more dignity than that. I can't wait to see them tonight at the bonfire."

"Now what are we going to wear?" Alice ran straight for her wardrobe flinging clothes all over the place searching intently for something to wear.

"Calm down Alice, you look fabulous in anything, just go casual" I am so glad that at least I am still calm, even when surrounded by two seriously stressed out people. Although I am kind of feeling left out that Edward didn't ask to meet me at the bonfire too. I guess he must be unsure of himself. But he is the same age as Jasper, so what is his problem. Maybe Rose is right, I'll cut him a little slack, but I do really hope he likes me. I just have to look good tonight and maybe he'll come over. So what do I wear?

"Alice, I need help with finding an outfit to lure Edward in my general direction, if that is even possible since he is a hundred times better looking than me."

"Bella, shut up for a start, you are drop dead gorgeous. And with my help, you will make him drop dead because of your gorgeousness. Come here, I think I have a blue top that would go perfectly with your skin. Now, try this skirt. Khaki goes with the blue and it's not too casual…does it all fit ok?"

"Do you want to give me more than a minute to get it on Alice?"

"Tetchy, you must like him, now come out so I can examine you". I came out of the bathroom reluctantly; the top was a lot lower than I was used to. It all fit fine, I just wasn't too sure I could pull it off.

"Wow, Bella, you are so beautiful. I wouldn't even think of staying away if I was Edward" Just the answer I wanted Alice.

"Thanks, you look amazing too, and Rosalie. I'm actually really excited about tonight".

"Me too"

"Yeah, I can't wait to see Emmett"

"Then what are we waiting for" and we all linked arms and strolled out ready to take on the boys.

APOV

"It's 7, where are they?" I was not prepared to be stood up on my first day here, especially in front of the entire camp…and anyway, Jasper looked like he was interested, so why would he stand me up?

"Don't worry Alice, they will be here, but they're guys, they don't want to seem desperate, so for God's sake be patient 'cause you are starting to get me nervous now… there they are look, they are coming, now will you please stop fussing"

I love Rose; she always manages to keep me sane. She has that about her; it is like a gift or a talent of hers. You would think she had magic powers…

Wow, Jasper looks so hot in that t-shirt, ok Alice, don't mess this up and try to be coherent when you speak… just breathe, breathe, and for God's sake don't go bright red as soon as he talks to you…

"Hey Alice, you look stunning, wanna go get some food?"

"Thanks, um…sure, I'm starving"

Yay, he thinks I am stunning, I could just dance about madly. But I won't, freaking him out at my slight weirdness this early is a really bad idea. Be calm. I wonder how Rose is doing? Oh, why do I care when I have a god-like boy standing right next to me who may or may not like me?

Now I have a dilemma before I even begin, how much and what do I eat? I don't want stuff left in my mouth in case we kiss, and I don't want to eat too much so I don't reveal too early that I am a pig. Ok steer clear of the burgers and sloppy joes. Go for a hotdog, no mustard, and Coke. Yeah, that sounds safe.

We got our food and sat on a log in front of the campfire. I beamed with smugness when I saw all the surrounding girls gaping at Jasper who incidentally was staring at me. He makes me feel so special, like I'm the only one around. I'm so hungry and trying to eat slowly and politely when you are hungry is hard.

"So Alice, tell me about yourself, all the gory details" he really sounds like he wants to know. It's strange, because from what my friends have told me, guys only ask that question early on to get it out the way.

"Well, I live in New York City with my parents, I'm an only child, I have a dog. I love shopping, that sounds so typical for a girl, but I really do love it. And like I said earlier, I'm a ballet dancer like Rose, and I've been dancing pretty much my whole life. My parents are, how can I put it nicely, well they don't really notice me. They have a very 'hands off' parenting style. I'm sure if they could lock me away somewhere then they would. So I spent all the time I was alone dancing, and that is a lot of the time. And that's really me in a nutshell. Personality wise, I'm a fun-loving kinda gal, I'm one of the most trusting and trustworthy people you will ever meet, and my friends are the most important thing in my life".

"Well, from that description I think I am going to really like you. And, for the record, you are way to beautiful to be unnoticed." I can feel my cheeks burning, but he is so sweet.

"So tell me about you" I was genuinely curious.

"Well, my family is from Texas, I am an only child like you, and my parents are very hands on. They like us to do lots of things together, like camping trips every other weekend, stuff like that. We're really outdoorsy. I love football, but I guess most guys would say the same thing, but it's in my blood. My father used to play professional so he brought me up with it. Personality wise, I appreciate honesty more then anything, my family and friends are the most important things to me, and I've been brought up to be a gentleman by my mama.

"You are my kinda guy, Jasper" Take the plunge Alice, what harm would it do. I kissed him, and to my delight, he responded, kissing me back and rapping his arms around my waist.

"Oy, you two, we don't have behaviour like that at this camp". The camp leader came over and had to tap me on the shoulder before I could break away from Jasper.

"C'mon" I led him subtly towards a clump of bushes a few metres away from the bonfire. He wasn't lying when he said his mother brought him up to respect women, I had to pull him gently to encourage him and give him a sign to indicate what I wanted.

He didn't need to be told twice. His lips brushed against mine softly, and stayed there until we heard the sound of the bell telling us to go back to our cabins.

We stood up and he kissed me once more before taking hold of my hand and leading me towards my cabin.

**RPOV**

"Hey Emmett" I am trying so hard to sound sexy not slutty. I love the look on his face when I tease him; he looks so pleased with himself.

"Hey beautiful, miss me?" Oh no he did not. He already thinks I fancy the pants off him. He's damn right, but that is beside the point, although cocky is such a hot trait in a guy you barely know.

"What would you say if my answer was yes?" Play hard to get Rose or he wins…

"Well, I would say, great, let's go get some food then go make out in your cabin… and then come back roast marshmallows on the bonfire… they are my favourite, we can't miss the marshmallows".

Cheaky, I love how forward he is. Bit weird about the marshmallows though. I'll just have to make it sexy somehow like feed one to him or something. Good plan.

"So, let me get this straight… If I say I missed you then our night will consist of eating food and making out... o.k., then I guess I missed you." The sound of his laugh made me feel happy; I don't know what is wrong with me. We went to get some food and ate very quickly. As we reached the door of my cabin, I started to get the feeling this was just a physical thing for Emmett… oh no, if that is it then this ends now.

"Emmett, stop a second", why does he look confused?

"What wrong beautiful?" Ignore it Rose, get the facts right before you listen to his compliments.

"Emmett, I, well, um… is this just a physical thing for you? Because if it is, then this stops now, I'm not just someone you can mess around with, I'm not a slut". Be strong, firm.

"Rose, look, I really like you, but I have this thing where I can tell what being with me means to a girl. It's all in the first kiss. I know that the first kiss means something for a girl too, so, if it's really intimate and there are sparks and all that jazz, then I know it's right. I am going to be arrogant for a second and say that I'm not a bad looking guy" you are spot on there, "and I've been through some stuff in the past with girls who just want to be able to tell their friends that they've been out with me. And if I'm honest, I'm a softy on the inside and I get hurt because well, it sucks to get used. I'm sure it's happened to you". Hold on, what?

"I'm sorry?" I was a bit insulted and confused. My voice was so unreadable.

"I find it hard to believe that a gorgeous girl like you has not had guys trick you into believing they like you when they really just want the respect of being able to get a girl like you. It must have happened before, right?"

"I'm not sure how to take that. I guess I don't know about some of the guys I've dated because I'm usually the one who dumps them. But there was this one guy, I was going out with him in the fall semester and after a few months he broke it off, I was sort of well on the way to falling in love with him. The words he used, it was like he was beating me up, and every word was another blow. When he left, it was like leaving me bleeding and dying in the street or something, like I wasn't worth anything anymore. I've never really got over it. I have no idea why I'm telling you this, I mean, I barely know you really".

And he cut me off, kissing me passionately. He made me forget all the bad memories I had just unearthed from the grave I had buried them in. He broke off and whispered softly,

"I will never do anything like that to you". And I believed him. There wasn't any doubt in my mind that he was telling the truth. We managed unbelievably to walk, still entwined, into the cabin and landed on the first bed that we reached. Sparks flew mentally in my brain.

"Rose…" Oh, shit, right on cue Bella, I'm going to have to help you with timing your entrances.

BPOV

Great, Alice and Rose have their soon-to-be boyfriends, and from the look on Rose's face she is going to have some gossip for tonight. I wish Edward would find me… I kind of miss him, is that weird? Yes Bella, it is really weird, you only know his name, and what he looks like (a god) and that he loves baseball.

OMG here he comes, yes, that means he likes me right? I mean if he has taken the time to find me then…

"Hi Edward"

"Hey Bella, I'm so glad I found, I've been looking for you everywhere. I feel so stupid, I was going to ask you to be my date for tonight but, well, I choked at the last minute, that's why I said that thing about practising. But we can still practice too… I need to breathe now… sorry"

Aww, he is so cute when he is embarrassed… and he was going to ask me out, I must be irresistible. No, get over yourself Bella and listen to him, eyes on the prize, the top prize at that, look at those eyes…

"Oh, right, well, great, I was kind of hoping you were looking for me so this is good, and yes, you can be my date… unless it would be awkward to call it a date then we could just 'hang out' instead."

"Great, so, do you want to get something to eat?" Jesus, I practically proclaimed that I liked him and he is still worried I'm going to say no… mixed signals are so complicated, right, try not to be any more forward Bella…

"That sounds great, and maybe later we could roast marshmallows on the bonfire?"

"Cool" I love it when his face lights up when I say yes, now I just have to figure out a way to get him to feed me the marshmallows… hmmm…

We got to know each other by the bonfire eating hotdogs… it sounds corny, but it was really romantic and he was really sweet, I could barely concentrate just looking at his beautiful face, he looked somewhere between an Abercrombie model and a Greek God, but hotter… I had butterflies, no, gigantic moths flying crazily in my stomach. And I am pretty sure I drooled at one point but I hope that was my imagination, because that would be so embarrassing…

You know when you're eating your favourite food, but for some reason that day it tastes better than ever? Well being fed marshmallows by Edward made me realise that all previously eaten marshmallows were disgusting. Somehow he made them taste out of this world. We talked and got to know each other better. His father was a doctor and his mother was an architect, and they had recently moved to Forks, where my father lives. I couldn't believe we had a connection there of all places. He mentioned that he had a brother as well and that they were close in age and so they had a very close relationship. I was almost sad when the bell rang to tell us to go to bed.

He walked me to my door and gave me a kiss on my cheek which caused my face to turn a vivid scarlet.

"You are really pretty when you blush, goodnight Bella." I think my heart might explode, he is so lovely and dreamy and charming and gorgeous and, and perfect.

I ran into the cabin and screamed with joy then shock as I walked in to the sight of Rose and Emmett making out on my bed!

"Rose…"

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Well, what happens next? You will have to read on to find out… why is Alice not back yet, what the hell was Rose doing on Bella's bed? Please Review!!!!


	3. Chapter 3

I restructured their lives, but Stephanie Meyer created them… I wish I had the rights to these characters, but I don't…

Chapter 3

Gossip

BPOV

"Rose…what the hell are you doing making out with Emmett on my bed?" I didn't know whether to be confused or angry…I haven't even used that bed yet and Rose is already using it as her loveseat, or lovebed. Rose broke apart from Emmett immediately and turned a vivid magenta. Well, at least she's as embarrassed as I am. Emmett looked a little too pleased with himself.

"Oh my gosh, Bella I am so sorry, we kind of just collapsed on the first bed. Emmett you better go, I'll see you tomorrow, save me a seat at breakfast?"

"Course, beautiful," no, Rose did not just giggle, how can a guy completely change someone like that? "I'll see you then, I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too…" Urgh my ears, please tell me I did not just hear Rose say "Great lips" under her breath… I am scarred for life, no, eternity. Rose with a boyfriend is too much to live with.

"Rose, what the hell happened to 'playing hard to get'? And where is Alice, the leaders sent everyone to bed ten minutes ago. And you have lipgloss all round your mouth, what did Emmett do, suck your face off?" These two are practically dragging me out of my shy shell, I never used to be so openly judgemental, in fact, I don't think I've ever passed judgement out loud. I always considered it to be either rude or in some cases hypocritical.

"Well, for your information, Emmett is the best kisser I have ever, um, kissed. You are just jealous…" Excuse me… so just because I haven't kissed Edward properly yet, I must be jealous, when Edward is twice as hot as Emmett, well I think he is. Ok I can't say that out loud.

"As if…". Great come-back Bella. God she is so full of herself at the moment, just because Emmett is older and she has kissed him already she thinks she is queen of relationships.

Just then Alice stumbled into the cabin with leaves in her hair and Jasper clasping her hand. Right, what is going on with these two… doesn't the term easy or desperate come to mind? What happened to taking it slow seeing as we are 15.

"Jasper, you have to go, I'll see you at breakfast" Then she giggled when he tickled her. What is happening to my friends, this camp must put something in the water that makes my friends go gaga around guys.

"Ok, oh and I might ask my little brother to join us tomorrow, I want you to meet him, his called Edward by the way."

"Um…" her voice quivered, "ok, see you then" Jasper gave her a quick peck on the cheek and left.

Hold on, did he just say his brother's name is Edward? What is the likelihood that his Edward is my Edward? With my luck, they are definitely the same, no way… Alice is going out with Edward's brother… this is too messed up… oh dear Lord, and I'm eating breakfast with him tomorrow as well… this is going to be a 10.0 on the disaster scale. What am I going to do, shit, shit, shit… breathe… breathe, be calm and nonchalant.

"Hey Alice, what's wrong, and why have you got leaves in your hair?" from the look on her face she looked like she was in shock or just about to faint, I couldn't decide which was more likely.

"What?" At that pitch, she is definitely in shock…

"What does this mean… he wants me to meet his brother? That's like meeting the family, we've only been on one date, I mean, I was the best date of my life, but …. Oh my gosh, I'm freaking out, help me Bella, help me, what do I do?" Her heart rate is way too high, and she has to start breathing soon or she is going to collapse. I glanced at Rose, we had exactly the same idea…

"Alice, BREATHE!!" Rosalie and I shouted in unison. Her heart rate slowed down gradually with deep heavy breathing and Rose grabbed a brown paper bag from the first aid kit in the bathroom.

"What if he doesn't like me?" She sounds so worried, how could anyone not like her?

"How could anyone not like you Alice, and don't worry, you have already met him" I groaned, and her face changed from a state of calm to disbelief in a matter of seconds as she twigged…

"Oh my gosh, you are going out with my boyfriend's brother… this is weird" Thanks for pointing that out Alice I had no idea that this was beyond bizarre. Isn't this kind of thing supposed to happen in an alternate universe or something? Of all the boys in this camp, the hottest guys had to be brothers. But then again, it would make sense gene-wise, boys like that don't just appear from random gene pools.

"I know, shall we not dwell on that fact, and please answer our previous question, why on Earth do you have leaves and, urgh, twigs, in your hair?"

"Well, me and Jasper, well, we kind of went behind some bushes and made out for pretty much the whole night, and talked as well, it was so romantic…" Alice went off in a daze, and Rosalie carried on for her,

"Me too, well, not in the bushes, but same activity." (giggles) "We were actually on Bella's bed! I must have been good because he didn't stop once to ask to go and get some marshmallows…"

"You dirty girl" Alice began to laugh too.

Well at least Alice approves. Me, I am just sitting here watching them giggle, wondering why I wasn't giggling too? I could think of a few major reasons:

I am completely certain that Edward thinks of me as a friend. How could someone that gorgeous think for a second about me?

I am ugly and need to go into an ugly home.

I'm just not as confident as Rose and Alice, and sooner or later, Edward will probably get bored of waiting. Mum always told me guys were only out for one thing.

"Well I'm glad you think it is so funny. I don't have as much to report. Edward was a total gentleman; he cooked my marshmallow for me, and fed me it. And walked me back to the cabin and gave me a kiss on the cheek." This information sounded so sad next to the others.

"Awww", at least Alice and Rose didn't pick on me for not kissing Edward properly yet, I wanted my first kiss to be special, not that it would be with Edward because I'm not good enough.

"Well, I'm off to bed, night, I want to be ready for the train-wreck that will be breakfast tomorrow…" More like a train explosion but I don't want to get Alice freaked out again. Jesus I am tired, not that I will get any sleep because I will be up all night worrying that Edward will dump me because he thinks the situation is also too much to handle… I'm going to die alone.

APOV

I can't sleep, what time is it? 1:30 am, great. I can't believe me and Bella are going out with guys that are related. Shit, if we all got married, me and Bella would be sisters! SHUT UP Alice, sleep for God's sake, you will look so crap for Jasper tomorrow with bags under your eyes… even though he thinks I'm stunning, God he is hot, so kind, great kisser, shut up brain and go to sleep…nope, no good. What are the chances that a camp with over 400 kids in won't have two guys called Edward? Surely there must be one more Edward here. No, with my luck, he is definitely Bella's boyfriend. I hope I don't get dumped because Bella is going out with Edward… but then again, why would he dump me? Why on Earth would Jasper care that much. If anything, it saves an awkward meeting of the boyfriends and our boyfriends are already friends so we can hang out as couples. I think I had better tell her tomorrow that it doesn't matter. I wonder what was wrong with Bella tonight. I hope she didn't think we would tense her about not kissing Edward, that's just mean. I think it's great that they are taking it slow, and sweet. We are only 15 for Christ's sake.

I hope she considers me more of a friend than that; I would never ever make fun of a friend's love life spitefully. Now I really must get to sleep… shoes… purses…mak…….zzzzzzzz…

_**Morning, just before breakfast, in the cabin.**_

BPOV

Great, I have nothing to wear. Edward will surely compare me to Alice and Rosalie and not want to go out with me anymore…and I am definitely walking in separately to Rose and Alice, my self esteem can only take so much.

I can't wait for baseball today; I just hope that I don't fall over whilst running round the bases. I've missed the feeling of the wind blowing through my hair as I speed across those bases whilst checking to see if the fielders have managed to get the ball. Wow, how did I get so calm just thinking about that? It's like baseball has this power over me, like it makes me calm just thinking about it and being around it. It's like I can block out all the other crap in my life and just concentrate on the game.

Ok, so, my options that Alice will let me out the cabin in are: as I suspected, none of my clothes will do,

"Alice, I need you"…

APOV

What am I going to wear? What do you wear to a breakfast when you are meeting your new boyfriend's brother who also happens to be your friend's boyfriend? Shit, we have ten minutes… clothes, make-up, hair, shit! Right, be calm Alice, chill out. Put on that really soft pink leotard and the black ballet skirt that comes just above the knee. Now the black leggings and the white plimsolls, casual and practical. Must remember to take that really nice ballet bag with all my stuff in. Ok, hair and make-up is done.

"Alice, I need you"

"Coming Bella. What's up?"

"I have nothing fit to wear!"

What is wrong with her? I must teach her how to use her own wardrobe effectively.

"Don't panic, Bells. Here, put this blue top on, it really compliments your eyes and it's not too inappropriate for baseball. Then wear your grey tracksuit bottoms and the white plimsolls. Wear your hair in a ponytail, and put on that baseball cap… perfect! You can get away without make-up, your skin is perfect and you don't want to risk sweating it off on the field."

"Thanks Alice, I owe you"

"No problem" Now where is Rose.

"Rose we're going"

"I'm coming, I'm coming, you two are so impatient". This coming from a girl who isn't stressed out about meeting her boyfriend's brother/ best friend's boyfriend.

"Let's go before we miss breakfast altogether". Well, here goes nothing…

JPOV

I hope Ed is nice to Alice, I will kill him if he messes this up for me. She is bloody gorgeous. Right, maybe I should just go talk to Ed before breakfast? Yeah, good plan.

"Eddie, my favourite bro ever…"

"Jazz, are you already going senile? I'm your only bro ever"

"Whatever, so you have to come and eat breakfast with me and meet my girlfriend."

EPOV

_Walking over to the mess hall…_

"So why exactly am I meeting your girlfriend Jasper? I am already having breakfast with my girlfriend. Does that mean that we're having a double date? Urgh, I don't really want to double with my brother, no offence."

"Well, actually, Emmett and his girlfriend are also joining us, so it's kinda a triple date. You are coming because if I bring her back to our cabin I don't want her to be uncomfortable if you are there. And, question, does your girlfriend know that we are twins? I mean I know I got the good-looking genes, but sooner or later they will have to twig, since our birthdays are the same day and all that."

"No, Bella doesn't know I have a twin, just a brother. I told her we were close in age".

"Yeah, really close, like minutes apart! Well I think we should tell them at breakfast."

"Are you sure that's a good idea"

"Well I don't know about you Ed, but I don't want to start my relationship with Alice by keeping stuff from her".

"And you think I want to start mine by keeping stuff from Bella? Of course I don't. Of course I'll introduce you to her as my brother, but can we just leave the twin bit out for a few days."

"Sure Ed. You really like her don't you?"

"I can't even describe it; she is like no other person I've met before. She's incredible. I'm not used to meeting someone I have so much in common with".

"That's like me for Alice. It's such a crazy feeling. I didn't know I would like someone so much this early in my life".

"I know what you mean. Hey, shit, look at the time, we're gonna have to run if we're gonna get there on time. Shout for Emmett, he's lagged behind a bit."

"Em"

"What, I'm coming"

Great now I'm going to be all red when I see her. (they arrive at the mess hall) Good she just walked in. Did her face just light up when she saw me? Maybe it was the light. Either way, she looks beautiful.

"Bella"…

And that's all she wrote, for now… please review, chapter 4 is coming soon.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Baseball

BPOV (before entering the mess hall)

"Hey Alice"

"Yeah"

"D'you wanna have some fun with these guys, maybe freak 'em out for a second, then explain that we know about the brother thing?"

"Sure, sounds like fun, oh, I've got an idea… I'll go in first and go over to Jasper, say hi and all the rest of it, then you come in, Edward will see you, explain that you are eating breakfast with his brother and new girlfriend, aka moi, and then wait for him to indicate where we are."

"Then I walk over and give you… a hug, brilliant, it will totally confuse them, then we explain."

"Excellent, kay, see you in a minute."

This is going to be brilliant… I hope Edward doesn't hate me for totally freaking him out, oh well, here goes.

"Go on Alice, I'll wait 2 minutes then come in. Good luck".

"You too".

Right, it's been 2 minutes, I can see Edward, he is so good looking. Subtle entry, try not to trip over the door frame.

"Bella"

"Hey Edward"…

EPOV

"Hey, I hope you don't mind but my brother would like us to sit with him and his new girlfriend, he wants her to meet me, and you, of course."

"Oh, ok, sounds fine to me, where are they sitting?" That's strange, that didn't freak her out at all, I must be missing something. Or maybe she is just not that bothered about meeting my brother, I guess it just isn't that big of a deal. It's not like she is meeting my parents or anything.

"They are over here". We headed in the direction I had just pointed, and Bella walked straight over to who I am sure is my brother's girlfriend, and gave her a hug… ok, I am DEFINITELY missing something…

"Ok, do you two know each other or are you both just really friendly?"

"Alright, we kind of already know each other and that you two are brothers. We are staying in the same cabin."

"I thought I recognised you from somewhere" good, at least one of us wasn't speechless. Then again, Jasper still looked a bit taken aback.

"Jasper, don't be mad ok, we sort of figured out that your Edward was 'Bella's' Edward last night. You guys must be really close in age if you are both 15. Shit, Bella, they're twins!"

She was good, really good. Luckily they were jumping up and down in insane excitement rather than running away. I definitely like the vibes I'm getting off Alice, Bella has evidently told her about me, but it was still nice to be called 'Bella's Edward'. Maybe she likes me just as much as I like her.

"Edward, why didn't you tell me you had a twin? That's so cool, and the fact that your twin is going out with one of my friends just makes this so much more interesting, and of course the added stress of you two meeting and liking each other is completely erased now", now I'm worried. That dangerous grin is sexy though.

"Well, Jazz and I definitely do get along, so yes, we don't have to worry about that. Hold on, why interesting?"

"Well let's just say, girls talk, so you two better watch yourselves" Is she teasing me? That's a good sign right? That means she likes me. How much do girls talk? How much do they keep to themselves? God, I wish I knew more about girls…

"So, what's for breakfast?"…

BPOV

Edward and I had to run to the baseball field because our highly entertaining breakfast had distracted us from watching the clock. Alice had been slowly grazing her hand up Jasper's thigh, and she evidently got a bit too close because he suddenly jumped up from his chair… Alice and I hadn't been able to contain our giggles. Rose and Emmett had joined us minutes after we had sat down, both looking very flustered.

Emmett was hilarious and quite possibly has the dirtiest mind on the planet, perfect for Rose, she hates boring guys. He somehow managed to make sexy innuendos about pretty much everything we said… slightly worrying really. Edward did nothing but eat and stare at me through the entire meal. When I dared to look directly into his beautiful green eyes, I went bright scarlet from the attention. I officially love the attention one gets from having a boyfriend. Of course we both joined in the conversation at times, though I enjoyed just simply holding hands with Edward under the table.

The only time Edward had turned away from me was to check the clock, at which point, we all unanimously realised we were all late. At that point, Rose and Emmett had enveloped together in a passionate kiss goodbye, and Alice and Jasper were just gazing into each others eyes in awe. Their moment seemed just as passionate and loving as Rose and Emmett's, but I felt like I was intruding on their private moment.

Edward took hold of my hand and pulled me gently towards the door. We ran towards the baseball field and joined the stragglers walking towards the coach surrounded by our group. We were being divided into teams. There would be only 2 teams and they would be permanent for the remainder of our time at the camp. With my spare hand (Edward still had a tight but gentle grip on my other hand) I crossed my fingers and silently prayed to be in Edward's team.

"Now as we have 2 highly experienced players this year, so I will put one on each team. Bella, team 1, Edward, team 2."

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO…. The teams don't do anything together during practice because we are supposed to be rivals, and training is all day. This can't be happening. Looking up at Edward, he didn't look too happy either.

EPOV

What! We can't be in different teams. I can't play against Bella. I looked down at her and she looked upset too. Well, you don't get anything if you don't speak up…

"Coach, can't Bella and I be on the same team? Please?"

"Nope, that would make the teams uneven in standard"

"But, coach…"

"No buts. That is my final decision."

"Bella, I… this sucks" and I really meant it. I was never going to see her through the long training hours of each day, we are practically halving our time together.

"Yeah, it does. But on the other hand, now you'll have to play your best or your team will hate you."

And that is good why?

"How does that make this crap situation better?"

"Now I get to see what you're made of without you letting me win like a gentleman"

"You are the most complicated, lovely girl I have ever met" Then she kissed me right on the mouth. It was like a huge firework display going of in my head. I put my arms around her and held her close.

"Ehem. Would the team captains stop please, you are supposed to be against each other and I want to start my practice." Fuck the coach, I held on for a few more seconds, then we parted and I looked straight into her chocolate brown eyes.

"Wow" Please tell me I didn't say that out loud, no, I did…

"Yeah, wow…" Yes, she definitely likes me.

"See you later beautiful" Be charming not sleazy.

"I'll miss you"

"Me too"… I am in love…

BPOV

That was my first kiss ever, sad but true, and no kiss could ever match up to it. There is definitely chemistry between me and Edward. Or he was just being polite and not showing his disgust that I kissed him. Nope, it's the first one, because he kissed me back… now I need to concentrate on training, or half concentrate at least.

Right I'm up to bat and Edward is pitching. Wow, he puts a lot of spin on his pitch. Still, I've practised with my uncle's baseball team, so this is going to be easy. Take it easy Bella, eye on the ball, and hit! Perfect, over first base, across second, sprint over third, try not to fall over, crap the fielder has the ball and is perfectly in line with Edward. If he throws it to Edward I am so out. No, just slide across fourth base… HOME RUN!

"And the crowd goes wild" one of my team mates shouted.

Edward was on his knees, he couldn't believe I beat his team obviously.

It feels so great to be surrounded by your team while they are screaming your name because you played the best ever. Screw them, I want to see Edward.

"Edward" _Bella runs over to Edward _that was a bit too high pitched…

"You were incredible Bella"

Great, I bet I'm bright red again.

"Not so bad yourself pitcher" then he kissed me. Soft at first then more aggressive. From behind I could hear 'wooo's' and wolf whistles, but I didn't care. It was as if it was just me and Edward, the only souls in the entire universe.

APOV

It is so nice walking with Jasper. We're just holding hands, but I have butterflies and my heart is racing all the same.

Wo, time out, is that Edward and Bella making out on the baseball field. No, it can't be…

"Hey, Jazz"

"Yes, Alice"

"Is that your brother and my best friend making out over there or is it just my imagination?" I couldn't help but break out into laughter at the look on Jasper's face when he saw them.

"Oy, Ed, no one wants to see you two playing tonsil hockey, get a room"

"Get lost Jazz" Ooo, protective. He must really like Bella. We are so going to probe her with questions tonight.

"Aw, Jazz, leave them alone. They're young and happy like us. Or would you not kiss me in front of everyone? Would you want to keep me a secret?" Perfect time to use my killer pout.

Then Jasper just grabbed me and lifted me up and kissed me passionately, with varying pressure, telling me this wasn't competing with Edward, he just wanted to kiss me. It must be love, I bet they put something in the water because 6 people don't just magically fall in love all at the same time, it just doesn't happen.

Are we in love? It is undoubtedly a stronger emotion than 'like' between us, but it may not be complete and irrevocable love. Maybe it will become clearer during the summer. But I am absolutely positive this feeling for Jasper is not going anywhere anytime soon.

"To the cabin, Jasper, Rose must be informed of this new development in our Bella's relationship"

"First of all Alice, it is a bit weird talking about my brother, no, sorry, twin brother's relationship. And secondly, do you mind doing something with me instead of running straight to Rose with the latest gossip" Oh no he didn't. He practically called me a gossip queen, which may be partially true, but coming from my boyfriend is not good. I'm still hurt though.

"I mean, I never get to see you at night because we aren't allowed and I barely see you in the day except during meals because we aren't doing the same sports, though you will never ever catch me in tights and doing ballet. I just want to see my girlfriend. Is that so bad?"

Well he deserves a reward for that speech. I gave him a kiss…

"I'm sorry, lets me make it up to you"

"How? And your devilish look does worry me. We aren't going to get thrown out of camp because of this plan will we?

"No, but we may get in trouble if we're caught"

Keeping him guessing is so fun.

"Caught doing what Alice?"

"You'll see, now I'm going to go and tell Rose about Bella, just this once, last time, I promise, but I'll see you later at dinner. I'll miss you…". Just gazing into his beautiful golden eyes gets me my way. I gave him a goodbye kiss and walked in the direction of our cabin. I would see him later, and he didn't even know…

"Rose" making out again I see. She is going to kill me.

RPOV

"Rose"

God I hate that little pixie. She is the second of my 2 new best friends to interrupt my making out time with Emmett. Can't a girl get some privacy for an hour, or two, or three?

"Bella and Edward were making out on the baseball field in front of everyone!" Alice just had to screech that in my ear. Even though it was highly interesting gossip, my ears are fragile.

"Sorry Alice, you deafened me at those decibels. Did you say, Bella and Edward were making out on the baseball field in front of the entire team?"

"Exactly right my dear Rosie, we must unveil all hidden happenings between those two, tonight!"

"Definitely"

"Um, hello!"

"Sorry baby, Alice, leave us alone would you? Emmett and I only have so many more hours we can spend making out. You know, time is a very precious thing."

"Well excusez-moi, you have not heard my special plan that gets you that time back, and I can guarantee you will have that time, but Emmett has to go now so we can plan".

"What?" Oh shut up protesting Emmett.

"Em, if Alice says we'll get the time then I trust her. Go on, off you go, I'll see you later at dinner"

"Don't I get a goodbye kiss?" Oh please, Emmett is all about the kissing isn't he?

"Of course you do" God Rose, weren't you just doing that?

"See you beautiful"

"Yes, alright, she is gorgeous, now would you take a hike Emmett, intense planning is in order, you're going to see her later"

"Alright, bye Rosie"

"Bye"

RPOV

"Go on then Alice, you have the floor. This better be good, 'because I'm missing quality time with Em". Really, really good quality. I like him so much, is it love, or just intense like?

"This plan is the greatest plan of the century. Listen, we all have issues except Ed and Bells because we don't do the same sport, so we never spend much time together, right?"

"Right", I'm still not following…

"Well I had an idea. The leaders go to their cabins at like 10:30, I've been keeping watch". Why would she bother?

"Why?"

"It's useful information to have for nights like tonight. We are going to sneak over to the boys' cabin at 10:45 and I have an empty bottle. We're going to play this game that I play with my friends back home. It's called 'Truth, Dare, Double Dare, Love, Kiss or Torture' so we spin the bottle and the spinner asks the person who it lands on. The dares can get insane."

She is a genius, an utter genius…

"Alice, you are a genius"

"I know"

"Hey, there's Bella…"

Ok, RPOV will continue next chapter and if you have been reading through this series please go back as I have changed the chapters…. R&R please!!! To my long term readers i.e. aliceinwonderland and xavvi, I love you both, you keep me writing xx


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own these characters, the Almighty Stephanie the vampire creator did…. I am just making them play this highly entertaining game…

Chapter 5

Truth, Dare, Double Dare, Love, Kiss, or Torture?

RPOV

"Well hello there Miss PDA, Alice could seeing you kissing Edward from a mile off" I couldn't help but break into uncontrollable giggles at the intense redness of Bella's face.

"Don't listen to her Bells, me and Jazz thought it was cute, well, actually, Jasper got a bit creeped out watching his brother making out with someone, but hey, what can you do?"

"Right, details Bella, juicy details, how did it happen?" I was genuinely interested. I had got a vibe from Bella that she was really shy round guys. Probably a confidence thing. I hope Edward completely erases that. She is really pretty, thin and obsessed with the same sport he is, she is his dream girl.

"Ok, well, the coach had split us into different teams, which still sucks because we train as a team, I will never see him now… anyway, I said something about how he had to play on top form or his team would kill him, as opposed to him holding back so I could be best player"

"And" Alice and I spoke together, both eager for her to finish her story,

"Well, he said that I was the most complicated and lovely girl he had ever met, so I kissed him"… What? She kissed him. No, that is all wrong!

"What, he didn't kiss you first? I swear that is the unwritten code for desperate, Bella"

"It is not, and he kissed me back and wrapped his arms around me. Well that was the first kiss… th"

"Hold the phone, what do you mean 'the first kiss'? Wasn't that the kiss that me and Jasper saw?" Alice sounded confused. I was concentrating more on the fact that the desperate code had secretly and unknowingly been abolished. Couldn't someone have warned me?

"No, Alice, you saw the kiss he gave ME after I beat his ass in the first game. He was the bowler and I hit a home run. I ran over to him and he pulled me into his arms and kissed me. It was incredible. Sparks were flying like crazy in my brain and I felt like my heart was going to explode… God, I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about him"

"Awww", again, Alice and I spoke in unison. The story was so cute. Bella was evidently falling for Edward. And so young. We all were. I didn't think people could fall in love this early. Granted we were all 15 apart from Emmett and I was nearly 16, but still…

"Right, now that is out the way, Alice, tell Bella the plan for tonight"

"What plan Alice?"

"Ok, listen and listen good because I am not going to keep repeating myself. Tonight, at 10:45, we are going to sneak into the boys' cabin and play 'Truth or dare'. I thought it might be fun if we sneak up on the guys as well, you know, scare them. I is my solution for us making up for the time when we aren't together during the day"

"You are a genius Alice. Wow, it's like a big unauthorised slumber party. But we are going to come back here right? I don't want to get caught and sent home" Bella looked worried. I knew it was because she wouldn't get the see Edward, as well as us, and to be honest, I didn't want to get sent home either.

"Don't worry your pretty little head Bella. It is rather insulting you getting all worried. I have planned this out to the last detail. I have escape routes planned. You see these big cabin windows, the ones that are so big there is no chance of privacy? Well they open pretty wide, we can climb out and sneak back to our cabin if something goes wrong. Now both of you go and get ready for dinner. You have 10 minutes before I said I was meeting Jasper and you know he will bring the other two with him, so haul ass!"

I sprinted to my closet, found a rather short skirt and a low-cut top and some really hot gold sandals. Lastly I topped up my eye make-up and fluffed up my hair. Perfect Rose, Emmett won't know what hit him…

BPOV

"Are we ready girls?"

"Ready", good, Rose is always quicker than I think she's going to be.

"Hold on guys, 2 more minutes, I just need to finish my hair".

"Alice, you told us to be ready by now, and you are the one not ready. If you don't move that little butt of yours now, we will leave without you"

"Thanks Rose, couldn't have said it better myself" I gave her a high-five and we started laughing as we both completely missed each other's hands.

Alice came out of the bathroom looking flustered, but stunning and more importantly, ready.

"Let's go get'em girls" Alice had a devilish twinkling in her eyes that scared me a little.

We walked over to the Mess Hall and strolled in to find the guys had saved us places at the table they were already sitting at. We all smiled, all secretly thinking of the plan. As we arrived at the table, the guys all stood up like true gentlemen and each gave their girlfriend a kiss on the cheek. Or in Rosalie's case, Emmett practically pounced on her and we all had the joy of a full visual of their display of affection.

"Hey, Em, do you mind not sucking Rose's face off before I start eating, I would prefer not to puke. And do you mind doing that in some private place away from me next time, maybe?" What was up with Jasper tonight? Probably frustrated that Alice didn't think to give him the same treatment, oh no, I thought too soon. Alice turned to Jasper and kissed him too. His face relaxed and as they broke apart, I swear I heard Alice say,

"No need to be jealous, Jazz, I like you just as much as Rosalie likes Emmett, I'm just more civilised about it" and she giggled. Jasper did not mention Rose and Emmett's kiss again. That little pixie really does have a way with him.

Dinner was a combination of serious laughing, caused by Emmett, of course, and a few subtle hints that something was going to happen tonight, but the boys either didn't catch on or they didn't think anything of the comments. Edward stared at me for much of the meal. Though I was getting used to it after a couple of days, I still blushed uncontrollably. At the end of the meal, Edward led me outside. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Rose and Alice watching intently.

"It's really chilly tonight", Edward was nervous for some reason, but even though we had sunk as low as the weather for a topic of conversation, he was right, it was freezing tonight for some weird reason, and I had forgotten by sweater. Clever Bella.

"Are you alright Edward? You're not usually this quiet", he was starting to worry me a bit. Was he trying to break up with me? What did I do? Oh, I don't get guys!

"I'm fine. Ok, I'm just going to come out and say it. Bella…would you be my girlfriend?" Wow. He is so sweet. I can't believe he was that nervous when he knew I already liked him.

"Edward, of course I will, but I thought we started going out like, yesterday".

"Well I kinda wanted it to be, you know, official, like spoken out loud. Cool, well, goodnight Bella". Kiss me you fool… kiss me, good he is leaning in…

The kiss was perfect. He put his arms round my waist and I wrapped my arms round his neck pulling him closer. Unfortunately we were interrupted with an uncomfortable cough from behind me…

"Sorry guys, we'll get out of your way, um… ouch Rose, don't hit me, how was I supposed to know they would be ki… ouch" Rose smacked him round the head for the second time, silencing Emmett, which I could imagine was the desired effect.

"Coming Bella?". Alice was obviously hinting that we had to prepare for tonight.

"Sure Alice, I'm coming. Night, boyfriend". Edward smiled a crooked smile. It was such a cute smile my knees went a bit jelloid.

Alice grabbed my hand and began dragging me back to the cabin. I waved a cheeky wave at Edward and blew him a kiss. He smiled again and mouthed 'Goodnight' again. I reluctantly turned away and headed up the steps and through the door Alice was holding open for me.

"Spill". Couldn't Alice give me time to take a breath before questioning me? No, I guess not.

"He just wanted to officially ask me to be his girlfriend". This statement followed with high-pitched screams of excitement from Rose and Alice.

"So, what did you say?" What do you think Sherlock? Alice can say the blondest things sometimes, and she isn't even blonde.

"I said I'd have to think about it… of course I said yes, you idiot. Beggars can be choosers Alice"

"What do you mean 'beggars', you are so pretty Bella, you never need to beg, and I shall kill you if you do. I'm very happy for you by the way. He is lovely, isn't he?"

"The loveliest, most sensitive, most gorgeous, most amazing guy I have ever met" I need to learn to shut my mouth and not keep spilling my heart out like this.

"Bella and Edward sitting in a tree, K.I.S.S.I.N.G, first comes love, then comes marriage, th…"

"Would you guys stop jinxing it? You already have me picking out my wedding dress when I only just met him. We met yesterday for Christ's sake!"

"Yeah, but you still love him", Rose can be so annoying, now she has Alice giggling again.

"C'mon guys, don't we have to get ready? It's 10:15. We only have half an hour left before we can sneak over to the boys".

"At this, Alice and Rose started rushing around in a frenzy. Rose jumped into the shower, Alice called next in the bathroom after Rose, and continued to her closet to get the empty bottle she had brought and pick from her many combinations of pyjamas. I got my pyjamas from under my pillow. Check my hair and face. Good, zit-free and I was having a good hair day.

Rose came out of the bathroom with her PJs on and her hair in a towel. She proceeded to dry and straighten her long golden locks for most of our remaining time. She was wearing rather revealing PJs too. The top even showed the top of her cleavage. Her shorts were mid-thigh length, showing off her toned ballet-dancer legs, and her toenails were painted a blood red.

Suddenly my confidence died right there and then. I was going to look shit compared to Rose and Alice no matter how hard I tried. As soon as Alice came out the bathroom, rubbing her short, dark chocolate hair with her towel, I ran in. I let the water flow over my shoulders and on my hair. I used my favourite strawberry shampoo and slowly began to relax.

I stepped out of the shower, and it seemed I had stepped right into a giant fridge. It was freezing. I put on my PJs and brushed my hair. I walked out to see Alice and Rose panicking and running around looking for their make-up. I just enjoyed watching them as I dried my hair. Once we were all ready and only had about 5 minutes left, Alice said,

"Bella, do you not have more, you know, girl pyjamas than trackie bums and an old t-shirt?"

"No, Alice, I tend to dress in comfy clothes to sleep in. Why?"

"Come with me, we are practically the same size, you can borrow something of mine"

"Alice, I don't ne.."

"I won't take 'no' for an answer, Bells, come on, they are still comfy"

Alice ran to her closet again, and rummaged around in there for a few seconds, producing a spaghetti-strap top and shorts set. At least they were a pretty dark blue and not pink.

We put our coats on and our shoes and Alice opened the door quietly to check the coast was clear.

"Let's go guys, wait 'til I get to the bushes on the other side of the clearing, then the next one go", and with that said, she made a run for it. She gave Rose a thumbs-up and she ran off. I checked the room, and quickly nipped inside again to ruffle up our beds to look like we were asleep, turned the lights out and stepped out the cabin again, shutting the door very quietly. I saw Rose wave and I took a deep breath and ran for it.

Every second I expected to see a flashlight or feel a hand grab me. But I made it to the bushes and with my 2 new best friends I crept round the cabins and found the boys' cabin. Their lights were off, God I hope they aren't asleep…

We snuck up the steps, Rose made one of the floorboards squeak and Jasper shifted in his bed, but no one woke up. The door squeaked a little too as we opened it, but we got in without anyone stirring. We each went over to our boyfriend and whispered "Wake up" into their ears. What followed was pandemonium…

Sorry to end on a cliffie, but the next chapter will involve a lot of PDA (public display of affection for those who don't know) and the game, obviously. I should have the next chapter up in the next few days. To my long term readers: xavvi and aliceinwonderland, I love you both, everyone please R&R, it makes me write faster, and please check out my other story…


	6. Chapter 6

Ok, this is the game… enjoy…

I don't own twilight.

Chapter 6

The Game

BPOV

It was a rather eventful 10 or 15 seconds. As it was, Edward was on the top of a set of bunk beds, Jasper on the bottom, and Emmett was in a single bed across the room. We had woken them so suddenly that Edward sat up and banged him head on the unnecessarily low ceiling and started yelling. Jasper banged his head on the bunk above him as he sat up, and joined Edward in the shouts of pain.

Emmett on the other hand seemed to think Rose was trying to kill him and had her over his shoulder carrying her to the door. Rose was continuously thumping his back in protest.

Edward was the first to recover, looked straight at me standing on the bunk ladder, and stated to laugh. As soon as I had looked into those fabulous eyes again, I jumped down to the floor and stood in front of the door so Emmett couldn't kick Rose out. He saw me, looked to his shoulder where all he could see was Rose's ass, and started laughing as well. When I looked over at Alice, she was kissing Jasper's head better.

Edward had climbed down his ladder and was coming straight for me, arms outstretched. I obliged and ran into them. He was warm, his skin was soft and he whispered "hey gorgeous" into my ear. All I could do was cling onto his chest.

"So are you girls going to clue us in as to why you decided to scare the shit out of us at 11pm?" He had that crooked smile on his face again, I was speechless. He had an unnatural power of dazzling me.

"Well Edward, we had this plan"

"Eh hem. Bella, you better not be taking credit for my master plan"

"Fine, Alice, you explain", she has a really proud grin on her face. She is probably the smuggest person in this room right now. Or maybe Emmett, considering Rose is currently perched on his knee.

"Gladly. Well, originally, this plan was to help me and Rose because we never see you guys at all during the day except meals because we do different sports. Then when we heard the baseball team scenario", Edward looked straight at me, I could feel my cheeks burning. "Yes, Edward, we have heard EVERYTHING in that scenario, now let Bella de-blush and listen to my plan please. You are going to like it."

"So anyway, when we heard all 3 of us don't see you guys, the plan was even more relevant"

"So what is it Alice?" Emmett is always the impatient one.

"We sneak over here, done, scare the crap out of you if you were asleep, done, and play…", she pulled the bottle out of the little bag she had brought. Emmett's eyes gleamed,

"Spin the bottle", yeah right Emmett, like we would let you kiss us. Rose would kill us.

"No, Emmett, 'Truth, Dare, Double Dare, Love, Kiss or Torture'", he looked even happier at this, but Jazz and Edward looked confused, and to be honest, I didn't know what to do either. I mean, I had played regular 'Truth or Dare', but the others sounded dangerous.

"Alice, you are a genius, I could kiss you… ouch, Rose, it's an expression, Jazz don't look at me like that, she's yours, I would never actually kiss her", stop while you're ahead Emmett, please. Then Edward spoke up,

"Explain the rules then Alice, I've only played the normal version of this"

"Be happy to Edward. 'Truth' everyone gets I hope, and 'Dare'", we all nodded to indicate we understood. "Ok, well, 'Double dare', well the dares are harder than regular 'dare', 'love', you can interpret that as you will. I usually use it to probe someone's love life. 'Kiss', self-explanatory. 'Torture' is the worst. It pushes you to your limits. These are the dares for the most, well, daring. Get it? Oh, yeah, the bottle, well someone spins and the person it points to has to pick a category, the spinner picks what they have to do or say"

"Sounds great Alice, but can we have a few ground rules?" I was worried this would get out and if Rose or Alice kissed Edward then something might happen.

Jazz chipped in at this, "Yeah, no kissing someone else's girlfriend/boyfriend."

"And not a soul is told about this outside this cabin"

"Wow, Alice, good mind-reading. Oh, can dares go outside the cabin?"

"Yes, but not too far or we'll get caught. And if you do get caught, no ratting out the rest of the group, deal?" Alice really did think of everything. We all raised our hands to show we understood the terms and conditions"

"Right, let's get this party started, pass the bottle Alice". Emmett span the bottle, it pointed at Rose.

"Kiss", Rose drew him in with her finger cheekily. Emmett kissed her, and the game continued. Rose span the bottle. It pointed to Jasper.

"Truth". Big mistake Jazz, Rose will show no mercy.

"Name all your past girlfriends and how long they lasted"

"Hey, isn't that like 3 truths in 1?"

"Oh dear, are you complaining 'cause there are too many to count?"

"No, fine, Angela, 3 weeks, Jessica, 3 days." Edward started laughing at the name Jessica.

"I remember Jessica. She was so desperate; Jazz only went out with her to shut her up. Then she was so annoying and clingy, she only lasted 3 days. Did you even like her?"

"No, not really". We all laughed at this, Alice looked very worried though. Rose and I would have to talk to her tonight.

"Jazz, it's your go to spin", and yes, it points at me. Why must I jinx myself?

"Ok, truth"

"Is my lovely, younger-by-seven-minutes brother your first boyfriend?" Thanks Jazz, I wasn't planning on revealing that embarrassing information yet.

"Yes". I looked straight at Edward to see his reaction. He was leaning towards me, so I leaned in too and he kissed me.

"Oy you two, Ed, she picked truth not kiss. Spin the bottle Bella". Shut up Emmett. We broke apart and he smiled and winked at me. I think I may have just had a heart attack.

"Ok, spin, spin, Rose again!"

"Truth"

"Not risking a dare yet then, I don't blame you. Do you expect Emmett to buy you a birthday present?"

"Well if we last another 3 weeks then I bloody do, yeah"

"That was for your benefit Emmett" I winked at him and he mouthed 'Thank you' at me.

Rose span and it landed on Alice.

"Yay, it's me, ok, dare, and make it good Rose", please don't be too harsh Rose.

"I dare you to cut a centimetre of your hair off, on just a few strands", now you've done it Rose. Alice looks like she might explode. Evidently she is deciding whether she is going to put her pride or hair first.

"Fine, but you had better not sleep tonight Rose 'cause I will get you back for this". Rose handed her some nail scissors and Alice cut about a centimetre of a bit of her hair. The difference in length was barely noticeable, but she had tears in her eyes.

"My turn to spin… Jasper"

I could hear her voice breaking, pick something good Jasper.

"Kiss". It was quite possibly the cutest moment ever. Jasper beckoned Alice and she crawled into his lap. He kissed her and wrapped his arms round her and holding her close. When they broke apart, he whispered something into her ear, and she smiled. He held her even when their moment was over and asked her to spin the bottle for him. She obliged and the bottle landed on Emmett.

"Dare"

"Emmett, cut Rose's hair"

"No. Stop it. This is supposed to be fun, not cutting everyone's hair. Rose that was a really bitchy thing to do, just because you knew Alice wouldn't back down. And Jazz, just because Rose upset, it doesn't mean you go and piss off Rose as well. I have to live with both of them. Now I am going to dare Emmett. Care to go Double dare, Emmett?"

"Sure, I doubt it will be too hard, Bella. You wouldn't want to piss off someone you just met". I winked at Edward and found the perfect double dare.

"Ok, just so I don't piss you off I'll let you wear your boxers when you run round this cabin. But only the boxers Emmett". Edward, Alice and Jazz were laughing. I kept eye contact with Emmett and grinned. He scowled and began to strip. Rose even managed a mouth twitch.

"I hope you enjoy this Bella"

"Oh, I'm positive I will Emmett. Off you go. I would run fast though, it's kinda cold out".

He ran out of the cabin and we watched the top of his head as he ran quickly round the cabin. When he came in, he was shivering and proceeded to put his clothes back on.

"If I get pneumonia Bella, I'm blaming you. And I think we should adjust the rules slightly. The person that the bottle points to doesn't pick the category, the spinner does". For very different reasons I imagine, everyone said,

"Agreed". Emmett smiled wickedly and leaned forward to spin the bottle. It landed on Edward. Please don't use Edward against me.

"Edward, do you love Bella?". What? No, please don't answer, I would rather that was private.

"Emmett, that is private. I would rather Edward didn't say that in front of everyone. Anyway, it's only been a few days, what a stupid question. This game has just mutated into a 'get back at the person who made me do shit stuff' game. I'm leaving".

"No, Bella, stay, c'mon, everyone is just messing around"

"No, Edward, I'm going to bed, see you in the morning".

I left the cabin in a dignified manner so as not to seem in a strop. I was so preoccupied with my thoughts that I didn't think to run across the yard. I was about half way across when I saw a flashlight beam coming closer and closer. My baseball coach came into focus in the pitch black night.

"Well, well, cabin-running, that just bought you a one-way ticket home Bella. Now get to bed. First thing tomorrow I want you packed and we will sort out your flight".

Shit

Ok, originally she was going to see the end of camp, but I was unsure how to structure the time period and I thought of this route when I wrote about Alice planning escape and backup routes to prevent them getting caught. Please don't flame me. This is nowhere near the end. My title was a clue to the structure of the story- they will meet again… do not fret. Again, my long term readers xavvi and aliceinwonderland, I love you both. Please R&R… updates in the next few days probably xx


	7. Chapter 7

I don't own twilight…

Ok guys, sorry to disappoint, but Bells is going home. But don't fret. Edward will magic himself back into her life at some point again in her life…

Chapter 7

The end of an extremely short era

BPOV

I ran back into the cabin and dove under my bedcovers. Tears were streaming down my face and a string of thoughts flowed freely through my head. I would never see Alice and Rose again. Even when you try and stay in contact, living cross-country to your best friends just doesn't turn out as you hope. I would never see Edward again. Sure his family lived in the same town as my dad, but I didn't live with Charlie. My mother hadn't forced me to go there in years. I suppose I could start going to Charlie's for the summer again, but only if I were sure to see Edward and we really can't swing it right now, money is a bit tight nowadays. I'm sure Alice would come too, to see Jasper, and since her dad is a zillionaire she would be able to cover flight costs no problem. Being realistic, the likelihood of me seeing Edward again was slim. This thought did nothing to improve my current desperate state.

Suddenly Alice and Rose rushed in and pulled the covers down to show my face.

"Bella, we heard the coach, we were in the bushes and we had to wait 'til he went back to bed before we could cross the yard. This is so shit" Rose is always someone I can count on to state the obvious.

"And all my fault, that stupid plan of mine. I should have thought out possible flaws, like someone daring another someone to cut of her hair" Alice glared at Rose at that and then knelt down on the floor beside my head and whispered softly in my ear,

"We are going to miss you so much, you have no idea". With that said, I began to bawl loudly again and Alice threw her arms around me. Rose followed suit and we sat on my bed in a mass hug, all crying.

I woke up the next morning with sore eyes and a squashed sensation, due to the fact that Rose and Alice both slept on top of me on my bed. I extracted myself from the mound of bodies and proceeded to get dressed. I was not going to say goodbye to Edward in a rushed manner just before being taken to the airport.

I closed the door quietly as I left the cabin fully dressed and packed. Not a soul moved as the door squeaked shut.

I ran across the yard that had been my downfall and knocked firmly on Edward's door. Emmett answered, grinned and called for Edward.

"Oh, hi Bella, are you alright, I thought we were meeting for breakfast?" Edward was so polite and kind and, and, no, don't you dare cry Isabella Marie Swan.

"Edward, can we go for a walk. There is something I need to tell you".

"Ok, um, just let me get some shoes". I heard him rummaging around then return wearing his baseball sneakers. I was nowhere near prepared for the following conversation.

"Edward, I'm leaving". He looked like he was about to cry. For a moment he seemed completely zoned out, evidently trying to process what I had just told him.

"But why? I don't understand. Is it because I didn't answer Emmett last night, because I swear Bella, I"

"No, please Edward, stop. This is hard enough. Look, I got caught by our coach last night on the way back to my cabin. I wasn't concentrating, and now I have to go home. But I just wanted to tell you that, these have been the best few days of my life. And I didn't want you to answer Emmett last night, because I know it isn't possible to really love someone in a few days, it just doesn't happen, but I know that if I had had the time, I could definitely love you Edward Masen, more than you could possibly know"

"That is exactly the response I had planned for Emmett. Even though I'm pretty sure I love you already Bella. But I can still see you right? I mean, I live so close to your dad, if you came to visit. And I'm sure that Alice will come visit Jasper so you could see her too."

"Of course I will try and visit. It's just; it would probably be only once or twice. My mum and I are surviving on a kindergarten teacher's salary so money is pretty tight. She only sent me here because she is away on some extra training thing"

"I'm really going to miss you", and he leaned in, and lifted my chin so I was facing him. He kissed me softly, our goodbye kiss. I held on to him, and he tightened his grip around me as we hugged. As we broke apart, I could feel a trickling down my cheek and he wiped my tears away gently with his thumb.

"When do you leave?" His voice broke slightly.

"Straight after breakfast"

"Then I won't leave your side 'til you leave, well, unless you need to go to the bathroom or something" He was smiling my favourite crooked grin, but perhaps half-heartedly. He seemed genuinely sad that I was leaving.

He walked me to breakfast and sat next to me. We barely talked, I wasn't quite sure why, but it would have spoilt the moment I guess, because neither of us felt the need to start a full-on conversation. He had a gentle but tight grip on my hand.

I looked up at the clock, he followed suit, then gave my hand a squeeze when we saw it was time for me to go. We ditched our trays and walked out as slowly as was possible without stopping. I opened the door to the mess hall to see my bags being lifted into the boot of the minibus that was to take me to the airport.

"I'm". I interrupted him. I didn't think I could stand a speech from him. I would probably just crumple into a heap and cry until my eyes were sore.

"Edward… you have made the last few days the best of my life. And I'm really going to miss you. It's the end of a very short era" I smiled, and he returned my smile with his own. He kissed me one last time. If I had my way, it would never end. I could feel the tears creeping over my eyelids and begin to stream down my face, even before we broke apart.

"I really will miss you Edward. I'll try and get up to Forks sometime soon. But if I don't, have a good life, you deserve it". And with that said, I climbed into the minibus, and sat by the window. Edward stood in front of me on the other side of the glass, placing his hand on the window, and I placed mine in line with his on my side. I could almost feel the heat from his hand reach me through the cold pane.

I stared into his eyes, my tears still flowing freely. He mouthed something to me, I couldn't quite understand, but it looked like 'I love you'. I got up straight away, I had to know.

"Please, wait a sec, I just have to say goodbye to my friend"

"Be quick then Miss"

I jumped from the bus, risking a broken leg with my clumsiness, but I didn't care. I ran into Edward's arms, and he whispered in my ear,

"I love you"

"I love you too"

"Bella, you didn't leave yet, thank God, we thought we missed you", Alice and Rose were standing there, tear tracks replaced by smiles. I gave them a huge hug.

"We'll text, and email. Never still out of touch, yeah?"

"Always"

"Always"

We made a pact, to always keep in touch, stay together no matter the distance we were apart.

I smiled at them both, looked over at Edward one last time then climbed the steps back onto the minibus.

"Bye, Bella"

"Bye, I'll miss you all". And the bus drove away. Suddenly uncontrollable floods of salty tears came and I sat all alone again.

_After a very long and bumpy flight…_

Back in Jacksonville, Mum met me in the airport accompanied by someone I would guess was a boyfriend as they were holding hands.

"Hey baby, you're lucky my trip got cancelled or I would have killed you honey, sneaking out at night, what were you thinking?"

"Can we go home for the lecture Mum, please? And you are?" He looked a little young for my mum. She was mid-thirties, but this guy looked in his twenties.

"I'm Phil"

"Phil is my friend, Bella"

"Mum, if he's a boyfriend just say so. I would prefer to know. And how did you meet him in the four days I was at camp when you we supposed to be preparing for a training thing?"

"My friend introduced me to him, well, it was kind of a set up wasn't it Phil? Debbie asked me if I would double with her and her boyfriend and that he had a friend who was single. I said yes because I wanted a break from work. And here we are"

"So Phil, what do you do for a living?"

"I play minor league baseball"

Great. I am having the worst day of my life. I practically got separated from my boyfriend who I will probably never see again, I felt really sick on the plane for some odd reason, I am usually fine with flying, and now my mum is trying to spice up her life with a younger boyfriend who will never pass for my dad. It will never last.

_Ok, I know there isn't a cliff hanger but the next chapter will be good… Bella is going to go and see her Dad in Forks. This can only mean seeing Edward, or will she? Xavvi and aliceinwonderland, I love you both for reading all my chapters. R&R…xx_


	8. Chapter 8

Ok guys, this is a year later, Bella is now 16, nearly 17. Because no one voted on my poll I have decided for myself… though I am sort of pleased because now the plot is a surprise! Enjoy, R&R, Thanks x

I don't own this fabulous characters, I am just the puppeteer of this story.

**Chapter 8**

**How 1 Year Really Does Make A Difference**

**(1 year later)**

BPOV

Mom has just called me from my room, and it isn't even dinner yet. She usually leaves me to my own devices. When I left camp a year ago, I spent a few months just living, but with barely any emotion. Mom even tried to make me see a doctor. But the mention of a doctor made me think of Edward's father, a doctor, and this just made me think of Edward. After seeing what my state was doing to my mother I forced myself to snap out of my phase and move on, though I never stopped loving Edward. There was no way to turn off the feelings I had for him.

Mom and Phil became closer than I originally predicted. I have put the age thing aside. If she is happy, then I am happy for her. She almost hit the ceiling when he told her he loved her. I had a few flashback days after that. It was like I had relapsed, though it didn't last.

"What's up Mom?

"Honey, I need to tell you something, and it is going to affect us both a lot. Phil has asked me to marry him. I haven't answered him yet because I needed to ask you what you thought. And you know you are my open book, so don't try and hide your true feelings. Tell me what you think, but I really do love him and I want to marry him"

"Mom, I love you, and Phil is really good for you. I'm really happy for you. You have my blessing, not that I was expecting you would need it. Do what makes you happy".

"Thanks baby"

"But, can I go to Forks and tell Dad. I think he needs to know, but it would be better coming from me"

"Ok, but only for a few days, I don't want you missing too much school. Get your upcoming assignments from your teachers"

"Cool, I'll call Dad"

I grabbed the phone off the cradle on the coffee table and went up to my room. I knew this was going to crush Charlie; he was still in love with my mom.

"Hello?"

"Dad, it's Bella"

"Bells, how are you? Are you alright? Do you need something?"

"No Dad, I'm fine. I was wondering if I could come and stay with you for a few days. There is something I have to tell you and it isn't an over-the-phone thing."

"You're welcome any time Bells. Just give me a call the day before you come so I can get your room ready"

"Ok, see you soon Dad, bye"

"Bye honey"

Well that went well. I had better look online for a flight. Flights to Seattle form Jacksonville… $200 return… pricy, I'll have to go half with Mom. Lucky I have a job or Mom would never let me go.

"Mom, the flight is $200 return. Would you mind going half with me?"

"I'm sure I can stretch for $100. This doesn't drain your savings does it?"

"Nope, no worries. I'll just go book the flight, it leaves the day after tomorrow"

"Ok sweetie, I'll give you a lift to the airport"

This trip may be for Charlie, but I get to see Edward. I think my heart may burst at the thought. Edward, Edward, Edward; I forgot how it made me feel to say his name; like he was mine. I can't wait to be there; this will be the longest day and a half of my life.

_In the airport…_

"Do you have your passport?"

"Yes, Mom"

"Wallet?"

"Yes, Mom"

"Ticket?"

"Yes, Mom"

"Have you got enough money?"

"I don't need much money Mom. Just enough to pull my weight at Charlie's"

"Call him Dad when you are around him ok? I would hate him to think that me taking you away from him has killed his paternal status"

"Whatever you say Mom"

"I'll miss you, be good"

"Aren't I always? I love you, bye"

I hugged her and then proceeded through passport control.

The flight was long, nearly 4 hours. Travelling from the tip of Florida to the north of Washington state (the furthest northwest) was further than I thought. Though I can't understand why I imagined it would be a couple of hours.

Charlie met me at the airport in Seattle and we drove for an hour or so back to Forks.

When we got in, Charlie carried my bags up to my room and left me to unpack and get settled and refreshed. That was a plus about Charlie; he doesn't hover.

When I came downstairs again, I found him in the living room watching a game on the TV. Typical.

"So Bells. I'm not going to send you home as soon as you tell me, but what was it that had to be said face to face?"

"I guess I'm just going to come out and say it… there isn't an easy way to say this Dad, and I'm sorry if it hurts you… Mom's getting married". From the look on his face, I could have stabbed him and he would have been in less pain. His obvious attempts to not cry were failing as a tear snuck over his eyelids and ran slowly down his aged face.

I turned round to give him some privacy. Looking round the room, the photos, all of them were him and my mom or my old, highly embarrassing school photos.

"Dad, I'm going to go for a walk and give you some time alone"

"Here, take the Chevy, go have a drive round, see if you remember everything. You have your licence with you right?"

"Yeah, thanks"

I grabbed the keys and half ran out the door. You could have cut the awkwardness in that room with a knife. The old, beaten-up Chevy was just how I remembered it from my summers in Forks in my pre-teen years. It had character, and I really loved it, though Charlie only used it when he was off-duty and didn't need the cop-car. He was the Chief of Police here in Forks. I took a drive and began to notice familiar buildings. The police station for one, and the Newton's camping store. Now I just needed to find Edward's house.

I waved at a passer-by and asked for directions. He gave them, but sounded annoyed for some reason. I carried on, repeating the instructions over and over in my mind so I didn't forget them. Then I realised who it was. It was Mike Newton. I used to hang out with him and a girl called Jessica Stanley when I used to come up for the summer, but since that had stopped we had lost touch. I had always suspected that Mike had had a crush on me, and I guess asking him for directions to Edward's house must have upset him.

I pulled up to the address that Mike had said. I sat in the truck for a few minutes just getting up the nerve to go and ring the doorbell. Just then, a woman came out of the house and was walking towards me. I got out of the truck to greet her.

"Oh, sorry honey, I thought you were Charlie Swan. He's a friend and I swear that's his truck"

"It is. I'm Bella, his daughter". I said it is a matter-of-fact tone, but she seemed surprised. It was obviously no longer common knowledge that Charlie Swan had a daughter that barely saw him because her mother left him.

"Well what can I do for you Bella?"

"Um, I was wondering if… Edward was home? I'm a friend from camp." Her eyes widened slightly.

"You're the girl. Oh my Lord. Come in, come in. I'm Elizabeth Masen, his mother."

"It's good to finally meet you Mrs Masen. Edward told me so much about you"

"All good I hope, and call me Elizabeth, dear. He will be so thrilled to see you."

We walked in, and the first thing that caught my attention was the hundreds of photos on all the surfaces and the walls. Some of the whole family, some of Edward and Jasper together, and some of just Edward. The shear number astounded me.

"Bella, is that you?" Jasper had appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Hi Jasper. Long time no see."

"Yeah, it has been a while. You look different… in a good way. Edward should be back any minute. He just went to the store to get some milk for Mom. You'll probably give him a heart attack though"

I smiled at Jasper's comment about me looking different.

"Ok. So have you seen much of Alice?" Jasper had come down the stairs at this point and was leading me into the living room.

"Sit down, please. Um, yeah, well you know her dad is like a zillionaire" I nodded and smiled, "Well she comes by private jet almost every weekend to see me. She knows I can't really afford to fly frequently, so for once she is abusing her dad's transport rather than his credit card in the mall. She's actually coming tomorrow, will you still be here, she would love to see you?"

"Yeah, I'm here for a few days, 'til Tuesday"

"Great". Just then we heard the door open and Edward's voice as he came into the house. My blood pressure doubled as seeing him was soon becoming a reality. Jasper and I both stared at the door. The handle turned, and there he was, just standing there staring at me, disbelief in his eyes.

"Hi Edward" I said in a satisfied voice. I can't believe I have had this effect on him.

"What are you doing here?" Good opener Edward.

"Well if you want me to go I can" I said in a playful voice, "I just thought that since I was in town I would stop by; my mistake"

"No, I mean it's great to see you. I just can't believe you are here. It's been so long. Jasper could have given me a little warning"

"Oy, don't pin you making a prat of yourself in front of the girl you love on me" What? He can't still have feelings for me after all this time. I looked at Jasper, then turned back to Edward.

"ok, now you can blame that on me" Jasper rushed from the room, trying and failing to be subtle by asking his mother something.

Edward walked over to me and sat down.

"Please excuse my idiot of a brother"

"How have you been?"

"Well, my team won the camp tournament. I don't think you were very popular with your team after that. Then, to be honest, I spent the next few months just in a daze. All I could do was think about you."

"If I'm being honest, my mum nearly had me hospitalised for depression. I couldn't do or feel anything, and I was confused. I couldn't understand how you could have made such an irreversible effect on me in 4 days. Eventually I snapped out of it for my mom and just tried to move on, but that was months after I left camp."

"I've missed you. No, that sentence doesn't cover it. I have longed for you for over a year"

I couldn't control myself anymore. I practically pounced on him and began kissing him with a passion I had bottled up for months and months. He returned my kisses with as much love as I gave. But like every other kiss we had shared in the past, we were interrupted. This time by none other than Elizabeth, Edward's mother.

"Oh my, I'm so sorry dears"

We broke apart at once and separated both of us highly embarrassed and I of course went a beetroot colour.

"I just wanted to tell you that lunch is ready. Bella, would you like to stay and eat with us?"

"That would be great Mrs Masen, thank you"

"It's Elizabeth to you, my dear" She closed the door quietly, and obviously informed Jasper of the happenings of the last 3 minutes because I could hearing him in fits of laughter on the other side of the door.

Edward and I laughed too.

"My mom likes you"

"And I like her, what a coincidence. She is just as lovely as you said" Edward smiled,

"C'mon, let's go and eat. You are yet to meet my father"…

_My beloved readers, the next chapter will be arriving before the weekend is out. It will include the lunch and an unexpected request from Edward… Xavvi and aliceinwonderland, I love you both for your commitment to my story. R&R everyone, please._


	9. Chapter 9

Don't sue me, I claim no rights to the fab characters I have placed in this fantasy world. Stephanie Meyer owns them all.

**Chapter 9**

**Good Choice**

EPOV

That was possibly the best kiss ever… I can't believe she is here, meeting my parents. This is a big step, but, hey, I fell in love with her in a matter of days. I doubt that 'going too fast' really applies to us. She did meet my brother first, and to be honest, he has more influence over who I date than my parents. He can bug me constantly with teasing or snide comments. Luckily, he likes Bella. I am slightly worried about my father. Edward Masen Senior has not been known to accept someone easily, except my mom.

I stood up from the settee and held out my hand for Bella. I grabbed hold of it, sending an electric shock up my nerves.

I whispered, "Bella, my dad may question you to the brink of your existence. He is not very accepting, but if you get him to like you then he will like you forever."

"No pressure then", she smiled. I returned her smile, and we took a deep breath and stepped into the lions' den, or the dining room, whichever you prefer.

"So this is the young lady who had my son bedroom-bound for months with a broken heart. She is pretty, boy, good choice. I'm Edward's father, Bella, Edward Sr."

"Yes, that sounds like me, it's a great pleasure to finally meet you. Edward has told me a lot about you"

"All good I hope", Edward turned to look at his son with suspicious eyes but with a smile plastered across his aged face. You could tell that when he was younger he had been the image of his son. The bottle-green eyes and cheekbones were the tell-tale signs.

"Of course. I hear you have met Alice, am I right?"

"I have indeed. Top girl that one. Full of life. She's good for my Jasper"

"She is a good friend"

"You know her?"

"Yes, I roomed with her at camp, along with Rosalie, Emmett's girlfriend"

"Oh, yes, Emmett. We haven't seen him in a while", Bella nodded. She was doing better than I could have hoped.

Mom had cooked a lasagne. We all tucked in, continuing with small talk. My father, as I promised Bella, questioned her to no end. What school she went to, how old she was, where she lived, what her parents were like, where she was planning to go to college, what her favourite subjects were at school. In the end I felt I had to speak up.

"Dad, you didn't even question Alice this much. Give Bella time to eat"

"Don't be silly Edward, I don't mind at all. I have never had someone so interested in me before!"

"Edward, if I want to ask my son's girlfriend a few questions to no objection then why would I not. I need to know what my son is getting himself into. And I would have asked Alice more questions, but I have limited knowledge of the current fashion and have little interest for shopping, though she was a delight to talk to, we had less in common than Bella and I"

"Fine, but I would like to talk to Bella alone if you don't mind. She is leaving in a few days, so I would rather be with her than listen to you quiz her on her life. I am going to clear the table, and I would prefer there to be broad conversation when I get back"

"Um… I'll help you Edward", Bella got up and collected the remaining plates and followed me into the kitchen.

"What was all that about? Your dad just wants to check that I'm not a psycho, Edward. My dad would do the same"

"You're leaving soon. I want to spend time with you. Not listening to my dad asking endless questions. I've seen you for less than 2 hours and I've spent about 10 minutes with you"

"Ok, well, we'll have dessert, your dad will finish up on the questionnaire of my life, and we'll go for a walk. Does that sound good?"

"No. It sounds great" I kissed her, and then turned to get the dessert out of the fridge. I could feel my heart beat twice as fast.

"C'mon, your parents will think we've escaped", she said, giggled, and then went back into the dining room with the dessert plates.

Dessert passed quickly. Dad finished his probing of Bella and came to the conclusion that she was good enough for me, though I already knew that I was way out of her league and wasn't good enough for her. Mom sent us away, saying she would clear up.

We stepped outside hand in hand into the chilly afternoon. All I could do was stare at her in awe. She was here. She came to see me. She still wanted me. I tugged her arm gently, pulling her into a hug. I never wanted to let her go. I could smell the strawberry scent of her shampoo in her hair. I had missed that smell.

"I've missed you so much", that was all I could say. I was in internal bliss.

"I missed you more". I looked down to see her looking up at me. She was smiling.

"Not possible". That was the truth. She couldn't possibly have missed me more.

"What are we going to do when I leave?" She had to bring it up. I was trying to forget that little detail.

"Well, I know your dad, but I haven't met your mom. Maybe I could come down to Jacksonville sometime to meet her. And see you of course. But we can email, text, write, call, anything"

"I'm going to miss seeing you. That's why I didn't give you anything to contact me. I was convinced I was never going to see you again. And being pen pals with the person I loved sounded pretty shitty, to be honest"

"It does sound shitty. So what are we going to do?"

"Figure it out later?" She said it in a cute voice that I couldn't resist.

"Great idea", and I kissed her again, and we carried on walking.

"Hey, do you want to meet my dad? Then we will have done the parents in one day and you can come over whenever you want". She needs to be careful with her wording; I might just take her up on that.

"Sure, let's go". We climbed into her truck and set off to Charlie's. For some reason, I had a feeling Charlie wouldn't like me so much when he found out I was dating his daughter. No, that I was in love with his daughter… he is going to kill me.

"Here we are. You ready?" I looked out the window to see the Chief's house. I caught a glimpse of him standing at the window. That really didn't help my nerves.

"Yep, let's do it. Just protect me if he points his rifle at me". She laughed.

"Edward, he will probably set the police dogs at you. But don't worry, they like me, I'll just stand in front of you with dog biscuits". She winked and kissed me on the cheek, then hopped out the truck. She clasped my hand as we walked up the path to her front door. I prayed all the way, hoping Charlie would accept me.

"Dad, I'm home. I have someone you need to meet"

"Ok Bells. Who is it?" Charlie came into view and smiled when he saw me.

"Oh, hi Edward" Then he looked down to see Bella and I holding hands.

"Afternoon, Chief Swan". Breathe Edward.

"Dad, you know the boy that I was depressed about when I left camp. I'm sure mom told you", he nodded, "Well, it's Edward. Small world, huh?"

"Very small world", Charlie glared at me.

"Charlie, I just want to tell you that I'm in love with your daughter and I will never do anything to hurt her. It is very unfortunate that we live at different ends of the country, but that doesn't change the fact that she is in every thought I have and I would walk across the continental U.S. if it meant I would see her again"

"That was quite a speech Edward. Well, good for you Bells. No PDA when I'm around and you're good Edward. Understand?"

"You got it, sir". Yes. I got him to like me in a conversation. That is rather impressive.

"Thanks Dad", she turned around and beamed at me. Then I had a thought, I should take her to my special place.

"Hey Bella, d'you want to go somewhere with me. I know this secret place, very romantic. You interested?"

"As long as I'm with you, take me away". I took her hand and led her to the car.

We drove for about 10 minutes, and then I directed her to park in front of the end of the trail that stretched before us.

"Edward, if you are planning on hiking to this magical place, I have to warn you, I'm a klutz. I can't walk across a flat surface without tripping over, let alone walk over hills with roots sticking out in every direction"

"I really don't understand that. You never fall over in the middle of a game. Why is walking any different?"

"I'm not thinking about walking distinctly in a normal environment, but in the game I'm concentrating"

"We'll walk slowly so you can talk to me and concentrate on walking too. Sound good?"

"Sounds good, yep. So where are you taking me?"

"Ah, that is the secret. And if you tell anyone after this I will have to kill you". She laughed, understanding the joke, and we proceeded up the trail. I knew this trail backwards and the route to my secret place had been memorized for years.

We walked for about an hour, when I stopped,

"Close your eyes. I want to lead you there"

"Are you kidding, I'll trip!"

"No you won't. Not with me to guide you. Do you trust me?"

"Forever. Ok, my eyes are closed"

"Alright, I believe you. Walk in the direction of my voice. A bit further… stop. Now open". She opened her eyes and gasped in awe of the beautiful meadow we were now standing in. It was a breathtaking place. The grass was green at the roots and gradually turned silver at the tips. The trees swayed gently in the light, ever-constant breeze, the sky was a perfect blue and the Sun sent a ray of light that sparkled on the dew.

"This is where I come to think. I came here a lot after you left, when I got home. It felt better to be in a calm and tranquil space". We were silent for a second. It wasn't awkward; I could tell she was just taking in the surroundings.

"Would you like to dance?"

"I can't dance". Oldest line in the book.

"That's what they all say. And it doesn't matter, because I can". Confidence is key here Edward. Don't mess up.

I took her hand and pulled her closer to me, I placed one of her hands on my shoulder, this instantly made me more nervous, and then positioned one of my hands on her waist.

"Ok, now we are standing right, we dance. The man leads. If you already kind of know what to do just humour me. Step back when I step forward, and forward when I step back, and try very hard not to look at your feet". I smiled at her, trying to calm her and hopefully give her some confidence.

We began slowly, and as she started to catch on and actually do very well, I picked up the pace a little to get more fluency. I could tell when she was becoming more confident because she looked away from her feet for longer periods of time. I gazed deeply into her chocolate brown eyes. She is so beautiful. What am I going to do to make her stay here? I need her. She's like a drug to me and when she's gone it's like I have to survive on another brand of the drug or try to quit. Either way I lose. I can't lose her again. But this time she has a choice. She can stay with Charlie can't she? He is her father. Then we can go to college together and… the possibilities are endless.

"You are really good Bella. Why did you say you couldn't dance?"

"Well I couldn't. You are a very good teacher". She smiled my favourite smile. It had a coy quality to it, but I could tell there must have been dimples at the corners of her mouth when she was little.

"Listen, I have an idea. We can stay together. You move up here and live with Charlie. Then we can go to college together, and"

"No. I can't move up here Edward. My life, well, half my life is in Jacksonville with my mother. I need her, Edward. You know I need you too. You are the other half."

"Do I?" There haven't been many points in my life where I felt the need to cry. I could never embarrass myself like that in front of Bella, but right now, I was holding it back. I'm nearly 17 for God's sake, I shouldn't be crying anymore.

"Edward, how can you say that? You know, I came up here with the intention of telling my dad that my mother is getting remarried. And when I told him, I saw him internally shatter into a million tiny pieces. He will never be whole again now it is certain that he will never get her back. She broke his heart about 16 years ago when she left with me. I need to be at home with my mother because she is starting again with Phil. She needs my support, and besides, the wedding won't be for a while and she will need me there at least until 'I do'. And to be honest, though it may help Charlie move on, I couldn't get up every morning 'til college and see a broken man. It will kill me.

You will never, in all your days ever be able to guess how much I love you. It's the kind of love that you never get twice in a million years. I know in my heart that there is no one on this Earth I would rather spend the rest of my life with. So no matter how far apart we are, nothing can keep you from me"

"Wow Bella, I… I can't measure up to the speech you just gave, so would saying I feel the same way be enough?"

"More than enough". I pulled her closer into my arms and kissed her. Now I was sure that nothing could stop us.

We lay on the grass side-by-side, Bella lying slightly across my chest. I could tell she was deep in thought.

"What's on your mind, love?"

"I'm thinking that my ears will die and shrivel up when Alice sees me tomorrow. You know how she screams", she giggled, but I knew it was a cover-up.

"No, really, what are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking that my heart is going to break when I leave you on Tuesday. You have to swear to use some form of communication to contact me every day"

"I'll gladly swear to that. I'll need to talk to you every day to maintain my sanity"

"Maybe we should go back. Not that I don't love laying in your arms, but my dad may start getting worried you've kidnapped me or something", she laughed again,

"Sure, just 2 more minutes" and I wrapped my arms round her and held her close.

BPOV

After about 2 minutes Edward got up and helped me up as well. We walked hand-in-hand to my truck and I drove him home. When I walked through my front door I was well aware it was about half seven, well below my usually curfew at home, but Charlie was sitting in his chair waiting for me.

"Where have you been?"

"At a secret meadow with Edward. He was teaching me to dance. Why does it matter, it's well before curfew?"

"Oh, I was just worried. So this thing with the Masen boy is serious then?"

"Well I'm in love with him, Dad, so yeah, I would say it was pretty serious. What's for dinner?"

"Um, well I don't know Bells, whatever is in the fridge I guess"

"You still haven't learned how to cook substantial meals have you, Dad?"

"Well Bella, I have a job. I don't have time to go do some fancy cooking course, now do I?"

"I guess not. I'll go cook something"

I rummaged round in the fridge, then the freezer and managed to find some steaks and potatoes. I marinated the steaks and put them under the grill, and then peeled the potatoes and roasted them. While everything was cooking I set the table and fetched a beer for Charlie out the fridge.

"Food's ready", I called just as I was putting the full plates on the table.

Charlie came through and sat down, eyes wide.

"I didn't know you could cook, Bells"

"Mom taught me"

"Oh. Well it looks great", he took a bite of everything, "tastes great too".

We ate in silence, only breaking it for occasional small talk. As soon as we were done, I cleaned up, did the dishes and then headed upstairs after saying goodnight to Charlie.

I put my iPod on and lay on my bed, drifting between listening to the words and thinking about me and Edward. After about half an hour, I paused the music to take and shower. As I came out of the bathroom I heard Charlie turning of the TV and coming upstairs. I rushed into my room and closed the door quietly. I sat on my bed, hearing faint movement on the other side of the wall in Charlie's room, then the sound of bed springs, then gentle snoring.

Suddenly a piece of gravel hit my window, making a small 'tap' on the glass. Cautiously I walked across and looked out into the night. There was Edward, standing in my garden, holding a few more gravel pieces. He smiled and beckoned me to open the window.

"My sweet Juliet, I was just wondering if I could climb thy tree and enter your bedchamber". Is he crazy? He'll break his neck, for sure. I tried desperately to stifle my giggles so Charlie wouldn't wake up and nodded. Edward beamed and began to climb the tree that stood feet from the house with apparent ease. That tree really does encourage break-ins, but then again, this is the Chief of Police's house.

He was stepping carefully as if on a tightrope along the branch that stretched right to my window. I stepped back a few paces to give him room to jump. He clasped on to the windowsill and hoisted himself up. What was incredible about the whole escapade was that Edward made virtually no noise. Within about 4 minutes he was standing in front of me. He was officially the first boy to ever be in my room. Well one of my rooms, he hadn't got into my Jacksonville bedroom yet.

"Edward, when I said you could come over any time you wanted, I never expected you to take it so literally!"

"Do you want me to go? I just couldn't stand to be away from you any longer"

"No, of course I don't want you to go. I can't believe you just climbed up a tree to see me. I'm like Rapunzel, just without the freakishly long, fake blonde hair. Except her Prince Charming climbs a very tall tower."

"You are way prettier and way more special than Rapunzel". He is so lovely.

"So this is your room. It's nice. For some reason I expected it to be messy"

"Why?"

"Well it's a little known fact that 'the prettier the girl, the messier the car'. And I've seen your car, and it's tidy, so I was expecting something else to be extremely messy, because you are extremely beautiful. So my guess was your bedroom"

"That is crazy logic. Oh, just a quick question, how long are you planning to stay? Because my dad will never like you again if you come down the stairs tomorrow after his 16 year old daughter. And I will hate you because he will ban me from seeing you and probably give me some kind of embarrassing sex talk". Why is he laughing? I am convinced I will have to kill myself to get out of a sex talk with Charlie if Edward is still here tomorrow.

"I was planning on leaving in a couple of hours. But only after making you promise to come round first thing and hang out with me and Jasper before Alice arrives"

"Oh, wow, Alice. D'you know, after all the stuff that happened today, I almost forgot she was coming? I have missed her so much".

We both lay on my bed, talking about pointless, trivial things. I hadn't realised how little we knew about each other. We knew enough, but little things, like how we liked our tea (Edward doesn't like tea) and what we dreamed of being when we were younger were still a mystery.

We talked about our relationship too, but nothing serious. To be honest the conversation consisted of Edward speaking like Romeo and me calling him an idiot.

At about 2 a.m. I yawned, and he mistook this as a sign that I was tired and needed to go. He gave me a kiss goodnight and as silently as he had come, he stole away into the night.

I thought I was tired but ended up spending the remainder of my night just thinking of him, imagining our life together. If there were a word that meant 'I love you' doubled, it still wouldn't be good enough to explain what I feel for Edward in words.

Finally I drifted off…

**A/N** ok, this is my second longest chapter, I think! The next chapter will be about the day with Alice, and the repercussions of that day. I hope you like this chapter… R&R please!!! Thanks sox1020


	10. Chapter 10

Ok, so I was wondering whether you all could possibly spend 3 seconds of your time writing me a small review after reading this. My highest number of reviews for a single chapter is 9… which is rather upsetting.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.

**Chapter 10**

**Alice**

BPOV

I woke with an aching back. I completely forgot how uncomfortable this mattress was. I glanced at the alarm clock on my bedside table. I can't believe it is still sitting there ticking away. Charlie must have changed the long-dead batteries before I came. At any rate, it was 10 am sharp, and Alice would be arriving in her private jet at Seattle airport around 2pm, then of course she had the hour drive down here to Forks.

I got dressed in my faded blue jeans and a navy blue blouse. I brushed my bed hair as best I could, and went downstairs to find Charlie reading the newspaper whilst eating a bowl of cereal.

"Why do you read the newspaper, Dad? You know it only ticks you off". Being a cop, my Dad would criticize any news that concerned the police force. If there was an article on vandalism he could go on for days at the lack of attention the police were paying. Sometimes it was rather irritating.

"Bella, it may annoy me when other precincts aren't doing their jobs in other towns, but it does help to know what is going on in the world". I smiled, opening the faded, yellow kitchen cupboard. My mother had painted them before I was born, so she said, to try and brighten up the kitchen. I ate my cereal in silence, not feeling the need to start a conversation with Charlie. We didn't find silence awkward.

I headed out the door to my truck as soon as I had informed Charlie of my day's plan, and headed straight for Edward's house. I remembered the route as easily as if I had been going there for years. I walked up the cobblestone path and knocked firmly on the white front door. Edward answered within seconds.

"I've been waiting for you. Come on in, Jasper and I have a surprise for you"

"That sounds dangerous. Will I like it?"

"Would I give you a surprise you wouldn't like?"

"I'll take that as a yes. Where is it then? Where is my surprise?" He pointed to the door to the living room. I opened it cautiously and saw to my disbelief and delight, Rose and Emmett sitting on the couch. Emmett beamed widely when he saw my face light up at the sight of them and Rose jumped from her seat and ran to hug me. I was overwhelmed seeing all my friends all I one place again.

"You did this, you invited them?" I turned to look at Edward and he smiled at me with my favourite crooked smile and said simply,

"Well, since you are only here 'til Tuesday and Alice was coming today, I thought I may as well invite the other 2 of our little clan. I really got the idea from Dad, when he said he hadn't seen Emmett for a while, and I thought it might be nice for us all to be together".

Rose released me and I practically pranced across the room and threw my arms around Edward's neck and kissed him on the cheek.

"I took the late night flight from D.C. last night, much to the dismay of my mother whom I called from the airport, telling her I was going to be away for the weekend as a certain special someone needed me in Forks". She winked at me and returned to her previous position next to Emmett.

"And I caught a flight this morning from Texas. Did you know it is only 2 hours to get to Seattle from Texas… incredible how fast these planes go these days, isn't it?"

"I'm so glad you all came. Now we just have to wait for Alice then we are all together again. So, have you two kept in touch?"

"Oh yes. Emmett came over to D.C. to celebrate our 1 year anniversary. It was so romantic. He took me out to dinner and gave me a red rose". She and Emmett interlocked their fingers as they gazed into each others' eyes.

"It was so unlike him, but I loved every minute just the same".

"Yeah, who knew Emmett could be romantic?" At this -I have to admit- hilarious remark from Jasper, Emmett punched him on the arm, undoubtedly not to the full extent of his strength, but enough to get Jasper to say, "Ouch".

I suddenly realised I was just standing in the middle of the room, and stepped back to put my arm around Edward's waist. I hadn't actually said a proper 'hello' yet. It was as if he had read m mind, because he leaned down to whisper in my ear,

"Did I get a kiss hello?"

I whispered back teasing, "Did you want one?"

"You know I do". And without any thought about the fact that we weren't nearly alone, and his brother was present, he cupped my chin and kissed me lightly, brushing his lips against mine. I thought I was going to faint, my legs felt like jelly, incapable of holding me up. I took his arm trying to hold myself, though Edward just grinned, obviously not aware of the unbelievable power he had over me.

"Ehem… do you two want a room, or are you good?" Emmett said in an amused voice. I looked round to see Rose and Emmett chuckling and Jasper grimacing.

"Ed, would you mind not doing that in front of your brother, it grosses me out"

"Ok, the next time you suck Alice's face off, I'll remind you what you just said"

"Edward, that is not nice. I'm sorry if we made you uncomfortable Jasper, it's just… I'm leaving in a few days, and he wanted a kiss hello"

"It's ok Bells, I know you don't have long, and you can't get up here as often as Alice can", he then glared at Edward, "And I will have you know that I have never had any complaints about my kissing techniques, thank you very much. I don't know what's wrong with me. For some reason I can sense everyone's emotions and they're affecting me. The happiness coming of the 4 of you are kind of making me jealous really… I'm sure it will stop when Alice gets here"

"Then you're in luck, I'm here", and in flew Alice who ran straight into Jasper's arms and began kissing him with a fierce passion.

"Hypocrite" Edward mumbled into my ear.

"Oh hush, they're in love. Leave them be", I tapped his arm playfully, "Now we can kiss in public too and he can't say anything". I giggled as I heard what I had just said, though it was true, I never thought I could be so open with my thoughts. A few years ago I would never have said something like that out loud. Edward was affecting me.

Once Alice had decided that her welcome was long enough, she turned and screamed at the sight of Emmett, Rosalie and me.

"What are you all doing here? Wow, it's the six of us together again. What are we going to do?"

"Well, down at the reservation there is a place called First Beach. We could go if you wanted, I mean, we shouldn't waste the first good day we've had in months inside, do we?"

"That's a great idea!" Alice was very excited and hyper… some things never change. I didn't realise how much I missed her.

We all agreed that First beach was a good place to spend the day, so we piled into my truck, the guys sat in the open back of my truck **A/N Bella's truck is like in the film- with a 'pick up' bit at the back. **Rose and Alice sat next to me and we chattered about meaningless information and caught up.

On arrival, we saw some of the local kids. I knew a few, but vaguely from my summers in Forks with Charlie. My best friend from my childhood, Jacob Black strolled up with a smile plastered across his face. He was actually a year and a half younger than us, but made up for it as he was already nearly six foot tall.

"Isabella Marie Swan, why is it that it has been years since we last talked?"

"I don't know Jake, I guess I'm too cool for you now". He chuckled and pulled my into a bone-crushing bear hug.

"God I've missed you Bells. So what's new?"

"I've missed you too, Jake. Not much… mom got married again, you know, boring stuff. Oh, and I got kicked out of baseball camp last year for sneaking around after lights out"

"You rebel" he scoffed, "are you still as good as you were when we were kids?"

"We still are kids Jake, and no… I'm better". We laughed together, only a cough from behind me brought me back to Earth as I remembered the people I had actually come here with.

"God, guys I'm sorry, Jake, this is Alice, her boyfriend Jasper, Emmett and his girlfriend Rosalie, and Jasper's brother and my boyfriend Edward". I pointed everyone out in turn and clasped Edward's hand after introducing him. We interlocked our fingers and he gently rubbed my fingers with his thumb.

"Boyfriend, eh. You'd better look after my Bella, Edward; she's like a sister to me"

"I don't plan on hurting her Jacob"

"Of course not. Well it was nice meeting you all, I should get back to my friends, but it was great to see you again Bells"

"You too Jake" and he ran off back to his even taller, copper skinned friends.

He was so different to how I remembered him. He still had the same laughing eyes and goofy grin, but he was growing his hair longer. It hung just below his chin.

"I can't believe how long it's been since I've seen him"

"How do you know him?" Edward's voice almost had a demanding voice. I'm going to take that as a sign that he is threatened by Jake. Yep, that look just confirmed my suspicions. He's looking at me like I'm in trouble… like I'm his daughter and he has caught me doing drugs or something like that.

"Edward, I've told you before I used to come to Charlie's for the summer, right?"

"Yes, carry on", whoa, he is making this too much of a big deal.

"Well, Jake's dad Billy and my dad have been best friends forever, and when he saw I was so bored I could have blown my brains out, he and Billy shoved the two of us together and we've been friends ever since. I don't see what the big deal is. He's like a brother to me"

"Ok. I thought he might have been an ex-boyfriend of yours". He looked so embarrassed that his pale, white cheeks went a little pink.

"No! He's fourteen Edward!"

"Oh", now he really was red.

"You are so cute when you're jealous", he looked away from me, obviously trying to save his ego, "Hey, look at me", he reluctantly looked directly into my eyes. I took his hand and placed it over my heart.

"You've got nothing to worry about. This is yours". I looked down to indicate that I meant my heart.

"Sorry, I just, I don't know, I was a little threatened"

"Don't worry about it. Now let's go play ball with our friends and enjoy the rest of today. Forget Jacob"

"Hear, hear", Emmett cheered.

"Sorry guys, let's go play football or something"

We spent the rest of the day messing around on the beach, playing childish games, burying Emmett in the sand and throwing Alice into the sea- much to her horror. Once it started getting dark, we began piling into the truck, ready to go home. I was about to open the driver side door when Edward pulled me away, leading me a metre or so out of earshot of the others.

"Look, I know we said we would forget Jacob, but"

"Edward, I thought we finished this". I was really pissed. Why can't guys let things go?

"Just answer me one question"

"One, then we drop this forever, agreed?"

"Agreed. Did you ever have anything more than friendship with him? Anything at all?"

"Well…" I didn't know how to tell him. Should I? It was so long ago. I don't know what to do…

**A/N **ok, my lovely readers, my next chapter will be up soon, but probably not 'til the day after tomorrow. PLEASE take 2 seconds and write even 1 word as a review, I would really appreciate it  aliceinwonderland and xavvi… your support means the world. xx


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight

**Chapter 11**

**It's a fact of life**

EPOV

What does she mean by 'well'? Does that mean she has had a thing with Jacob? I don't know why I have a problem with that. Why do I have a problem with that? It must be my pride or something. It's not as if it would make a difference to our relationship or my feelings for her if she had had a thing with him.

"Bella, I would rather you told the truth and I hated it, then you keep secrets from me".

Honestly, I would rather there was nothing to tell. But let's face it; it's a fact of life. Once something gets good, something fucks it up. I'm in love with Bella, now something is fucking it up.

"It really isn't anything serious Edward. It was the last summer Renee was making me spend with my dad, and Jake knew I wasn't coming back, unless I couldn't help it. We were only 12, but he had a crush on me… but a 12-year-old's crush; nothing like love or anything close to that. He was my best friend and I was going to miss him, so I gave him a kiss on the cheek before I left, and then he kissed me on the mouth. It was just a peck, and I got really angry at him because I wanted us to be just friends. And that's it".

Is that what I was worried about? Why am I such a moron? I always make such a big deal out of really little things. Bless her, she looks so worried that I'll be mad or something. Though, I may have to watch Jacob now I know he randomly kisses his so-called 'friends' on the mouth.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have made such a big deal out of something so small. Forgive me?" Please do… I don't want to spend the rest of our weekend fighting.

"Always. Don't be intimidated by Jake. I guess he must have some leftover feelings or something; he has always been protective. C'mon, let's go before we freeze our asses off".

She smiled at me, and I kissed her on the cheek. Her skin was so soft. It looked even translucent out of the sunlight, but she was still so beautiful. Her complexion was flawless, not a blemish in sight. She has an irresistible scent of freesia. It causes a burning desire in me, a longing to be close to her, to touch her. She led me to the truck, her hand in mine. I never want to let go.

As soon as I climbed into the trailer, when it was only us guys, Emmett didn't waste any time in quizzing me on my conversation with Bella.

"What was all that about?"

"Don't worry about it, just me being an idiot about Jacob. I don't know why, but she has this spell over me and I guess I was worried that Jacob was competition"

"Dude, you have got to relax. She loves you, man, no doubt. Just trust her", Jasper is so annoying when he's right. I feel like such a prat now. My own brother has more faith in Bella than I do. That is ridiculous. I should trust Bella with all my heart and soul. How could I ever think of her being unfaithful?

What would I do if she said she didn't love me anymore? Or at least, broke up with me? I guess… I would put on a brave face and pretend to understand, let her go, then jump off a cliff.

We drove back to my house without much further conversation, and then traipsed into Jasper and my bedroom. It is the largest bedroom because the both of us have to share; otherwise there wouldn't be a spare room for guests. At present, Alice was occupying the guest room.

My side of the room is very different tot Jasper's. I have three shelves that extend the length of the wall, filled with CDs, I have a stereo at the foot of my bed that took a whole summer to save up for; there is no point loving music and having a shit stereo, and a load of books on a bookcase along another wall. Jasper covered his wall with posters and photos as soon as we moved in, and has a signed football shirt pinned up in the centre as well. He has a trunk at the end of his bed to keep all his stuff in. We share a walk-in closet, the entrance being on Jasper's side of the room; to the left of the entrance is a rocking chair our mother used to sit at in our last home in Alaska when we were babies.

Alice perched on Jasper's trunk, Emmett had taken the rocking chair with Rose sitting comfortably in his lap, and Bella had taken my bed. I sat next to her and she leaned on my shoulder. I put my arm round her shoulders and we sat oblivious to the rest of the room.

Emmett took it upon himself to break the ice,

"I wonder when we'll all be together again like this?"

"Me too, Em. Bella, when are you coming back?" Damn, Jasper you idiot! I didn't want to think about that.

"Well, um, my mom, she's kinda bringing me up on a kindergarten teacher's salary, so I don't know if I'll be able to swing another visit… money's a bit tight, you know? I mean, I've never really cared about money, it's not really a big deal"

"Bella, if I have to pick you up in my private jet to get you up here, then I will"

Praise the Lord for the birth of Alice… and her father's credit card.

"Alice, you know I could never ask you to do that". She looks so torn between asking too much and accepting.

"Then you don't have to, I'm offering. I could do a round trip… pick up Rose in D.C., then you in Florida, then get Emmett in Texas… the possibilities are endless!"

Bella looks so beautiful when she is confused. Evidently she is worried she is asking too much of Alice.

The conversation continued with Alice inviting us all to New York, but insisting that she do a round trip of the continental U.S. and picking us all up. I wouldn't mind going to New York. The Big Apple. I wonder why they call it that. I have been thinking about applying to college there. Maybe study music or psychology. The mind is so fascinating, I love hearing what people are thinking. I've heard Columbia has a lovely campus. Where is Bella applying to college?

"Hey, where is everyone applying to college?" Damn, I have to stop thinking out loud.

"Well", Alice spoke up first, "I'm applying to New York University to study fashion. I want to be a designer. I could never leave New York, and luckily on of the best courses for fashion is there."

"I kinda thought I would take a stab at history. Luckily New York U has a good course, in case Ali and I are still together. Otherwise I thought maybe Portland, you know, close to home." Jasper put his arm around Alice and she leaned in and whispered something in his ear. My guess is something along the lines of 'we will be together then'. Or words to that effect.

"I planned to stay in D.C. and study art or drama", Rose pitched in, followed by an unnecessary comment by Emmett,

"Yeah, you're all about the drama, Rose". Rose replied with a painful sounding punch to Emmett's ribs.

"Ouch, I'm only kidding, Rose. I reckon I'll be staying in Texas. I can't take much more of Rose's physical abuse." Rose looked at him, hurt emblazoned in her expression.

"Not that I don't think we'll last another year, Rose. If we do then I'll check out D.C. with you". He wrapped his arms around the model-like girl perched on his knee and pulled her close, kissing her gently along her jaw line. I was a little jealous of how they were together in public. Nothing seemed to embarrass them, though embarrassment isn't the right emotion. More that they didn't feel the need to conceal their obvious love to the world.

I never felt uncomfortable kissing Bella in public, unless the public was my parents, but I somehow felt that it was none of the rest of the world's business to see our relationship. In addition, I didn't want to make Bella uncomfortable.

"Bella, where are you planning to go to college?" Again, it was Alice that asked the question I dreaded to mention. I had been almost glad Bella hadn't added to our conversation. It was as if she would rather talk to me about it first, or at least I hope that is why she kept quiet.

"Well, I was planning on staying in Florida with my mom. When Phil is training she gets lonely, and it's cheaper to go to college closer to home. I plan to do English."

Bella would be fabulous at English, or anything she set her mind to. When I was in her room the other night, I spied a pile of books she brought with her. Among them was a very battered copy of 'Wuthering Heights'. I never had much patience with the characters in that particular supposed classic. Heathcliff is so evil and Cathy so selfish. But the fact that she reads books like that and not the trashy teenage novels that authors churn out nowadays, it gives me a longing to just bury myself in her mind and spend the rest of my life trying to work her out. She is so difficult to read; so complex.

_Monday night_

I can't sleep. Bella is leaving in a matter of hours. Maybe I knew that before, but I never thought of what it meant. She's leaving me again, this time by choice. She could stay here with me. Why… why won't she stay here with me?

_**Flashback**_

_Bella… Bella… come back, comeback. All I can do is run after the damn bus. I may have only known her a few days, but I feel like I have never had such a good friend, other than Jasper of course. We have so much in common, yet we are so different. I'm really going to miss her._

…_***…_

_How can I still miss her? It's the end of camp, I'm home, and everything is back to normal. What is wrong with me? I turned 16 less than a week ago, I am too young to be this affected by a girl. But she isn't just any girl… she's Bella. She's my perfect girl. And she's gone. I can't be in love with her, can I? Maybe, no, no, and another no. Get a grip on yourself, Edward. You are never going to see her again, ever. Don't you dare let her take over your life. Maybe if I saw her again I would know for sure, but that is never going to happen._

…_***…_

"_Hi Edward"… what is she doing here? I can't believe it. I love you. Shut up you idiot! Don't make her want to leave as soon as you see her._

_What do I say? 'Bella, I have waited for you for a year, I think I've loved you since I came home from camp a year ago, still thinking about you and missing you, and you turning up and seeing your beautiful face again confirmed my suspicions. I love you.' _

_No, maybe just ask her why she's here first…_

"_What are you doing here?"_

_**End of Flashback**_

I woke with sweat running slowly down my forehead and my hair even messier than usual from the twisting and turning in my sleep. I hadn't thought about those times in a while. The last part of my dream was obviously a few days ago. It was as if the 'Ghost of Edward's Past' had come to remind me of how much I missed Bella last time she left. How will I last now, now that I know I'm undoubtedly and irrevocably in love with Bella?

**A/N**

Ok, sorry to leave it at a tense moment… Bella's flashback will be coming right up in the next chapter + the leaving scene + an unexpected horrid twist!

I have added the flashbacks after advice from the great xavvi, in the attempt to make Edward and Bella's relationship more plausible. I want to make it clear that they weren't 'in love' at camp. As shown in Edward's second flashback, he is still unsure of his feelings after camp. This is not the end of the story by far… don't fret.

To all my devoted long term readers: you keep me writing (and reading when you write your reviews, hint, hint!) thank you for your constant support. PLEASE R&R!!! sox1020 


	12. Chapter 12

To my wonderful, reviewing readers; thank you for supporting me thus far. Here is my latest instalment, and as promised, there is some heart ache, surprises and some unexpected twists… enjoy!

**Chapter 12**

**I want you to want me**

BPOV

_Flashback_

_I am such a baby. I'm sitting here on this bus on the way home, and all I can think about is Edward. He was different. He didn't see me like the other boys did. We had so much in common, and he still didn't treat me like one for the guys. He was special. I miss him. He was probably the closest thing to a soul mate I could have got to. Now I'm going back to having friends that don't understand me, and never will._

_~#~_

_Urgh, I hate my life. My mom is spending every waking minute with Phil, her surprisingly long lasting boyfriend, and is treating me like a wall hanging with no feelings. My so-called 'friends' are more annoying everyday. Tyler nearly ran me over the other day. Luckily I got out of the way in time, but I felt like this would be a brilliant time for Edward to step in, be my knight in shining armour and then take me away from the drama arguments and endless dull conversations of lipstick, boys and parties. Sometimes I feel like nobody would care if I were dead. No one notices me, except Mike, who is driving me crazy by attempting to drag me by my hair out of the friend zone and into dating territory. That is never going to happen. What is there worth living for anymore?_

_~#~_

_Beep, beep, beep. The resounding noise of monitors surrounding me is giving me a trapped sensation. They seem determined to keep me alive, though I may not want it. I looked over to see my mother sitting on one of the highly uncomfortable chairs hospitals provide. She looked up, and seeing me awake, she jumped up and flung her arms around my neck._

"_Bella, my baby, you're alright. God, I feared the worst. How dare you do that to me? I come home from work, and I find you lying on the bathroom floor next to a knife and blood gushing from a slit in your wrist!"_

_I can't believe I can't even slit my own wrist right. This is ridiculous!_

"_What did you expect mom? You've spent the last 5 months completely ignoring me. I know that you're really excited about how well everything is going with Phil, but I'm your bloody daughter. Daughters are supposed to trump boyfriends every time"._

_Mom sat on the edge of my bed, speechless. I had never been one for tantrums. I didn't complain if I got grounded, if I deserved it that is. _

_"You know, I was sitting over there, trying, straining my mind to think of a reason that you would do this. And I started to wonder if maybe it was me. Then I looked back over the time since you got back from camp, and tried to pinpoint the times we spent time us girls"_

"_And did you find one?" I interrupted, noticing the stern tone in my voice had affected my mother as she cringed in shame._

"_No, I couldn't". Tears began to stream down her face. I knew she was sorry. _

_"Sorry Mom", I whispered._

"_It's ok; just don't ever do that to me again. Deal?"_

"_Deal"_

_End of flashback_

I woke with a start, and lay clutching my covers to my chest. I hadn't thought about those memories in a long time, even though they weren't from so long ago. I could still see the faint scar on my wrist. It was even whiter than the rest of my skin, and almost shone.

I looked over at the clock on my nightstand. The digits read 9:00, and the date was emblazoned underneath: Tues 23rd September 2004. Today was the day my life was going back to normal, with the added pain of having to leave Edward again.

I dressed quickly, not wanting to waste another minute without him. I began to descend the stairs and got such a shock I slipped down a few steps until I was at eye level with a pair of beautiful green eyes.

"Are we a bit clumsy this morning?" He whispered in a sexy voice,

"Um, no, just… surprised to see you all in my house without the presents of my dad".

I was intrigued to know what con they had pulled on my dad to let them stay here while I was asleep.

"Alice would you care to explain, since you are the one who managed to talk us in here", Alice smiled cheekily,

"Be happy to. Well, to be honest Bells, your dad seems to have a soft spot for me. We were walking up your path just as he was getting into the police cruiser, and we explained we were here to see you when he asked. He requested we come back later, but I insisted we couldn't wait and promised that the boys wouldn't go anywhere near the staircase and we would wait downstairs 'til you woke up. He couldn't argue because I was being so reasonable, and here we are!"

I was still sat on the step that I had fallen to, with my mouth wide open in disbelief.

"Um… I'm guessing there is a reason you guys have been waiting for me? Or did you just miss me so much you just had to see me?" I had in fact been joking about the latter, but Edward leaned over and whispered in my ear,

"Well, I'm here for the second reason; the others are here for the first". And with that said, he pulled me into his arms and I wrapped my arms around his neck. He began to spin on the spot causing a dizzy, nauseous sensation in my still sleeping stomach.

"Edward, stop before I throw up!" I said between fits of giggles.

"So what is this plan you guys have? It had better be good, it's my last day!" I was now situated on Edward's knee, sitting in one of the armchairs in my rather cramped living room. Edward had his arms locked round my waist and pulled me closer to his rock hard chest at the mention of my last day. A small part of me was screaming that he was just as sad as I was about the fact that I was leaving.

"Oh, it is a fabulous plan", Alice assured me; "We all drive up to Port Angeles and go on a triple date. I know that we all go home, or stay here as the case may be, today, so I thought we would go to some nice Italian restaurant and eat food, and talk and just enjoy each others' company for our last few hours together. Sound good?"

"Sounds great, Alice. Let's just hope this plan doesn't get me into trouble like the last one!" I laughed, remembering the Coach's disappointed face.

We piled into Edward's Volvo and laughed and sang along to our favourite music the entire way there. On arrival, Alice dragged me and Rose to a shop to buy fancy clothes for the date. Rose took considerably less persuading than me. As soon as Alice walked through the door, she saw a dress that I just 'had to' try on. It was deep blue and figure-hugging, with spaghetti straps and came a little too high above my knee for my liking, though it was still classy. We found some patent black heels that I could barely walk in to match. As I was all ready to go, I went for a reunion walk. Port Angeles was not a strange place to me. I knew most of the streets by heart. I decided to visit an old friend in my favourite bookshop.

Walking up an alleyway on route to my destination, I could hear someone walking behind me.

"Hey there beautiful". That was definitely not Edward or Em or Jasper's voice. I quickened my pace as much as possible while still wearing the skyscrapers Alice had forced on my feet. I felt a hand graze my back and settle on my waist. I didn't dare look back, I just elbowed behind me and made contact with his ribs and ran. My feet were breaking underneath me, but I didn't stop.

I was almost at the opening of the alley which went onto the main road, and safety, when the hand grabbed my arm this time. The guy pulled me back into the shadows on the alley and began punching me and kicking my shins. I covered my face and slid down the wall into a protective ball. All I could feel was pain.

"EDWARD", I screamed in desperation for help. The punching intensified and the pain almost doubled, causing me to shout out again,

"EDWARD, HELP". The abuse stopped but I was in so much agony I scarcely noticed. While I had been in my ball, Em, Jasper and Edward had found me, tackled and beat up the guy and Edward, unknown to me at this present moment, was crouched in front of me.

"Bella, I'm so sorry". He took my hand and kissed it.

"For what, you didn't beat me up and have the intent on raping me". Tears now flowed from my eyes.

"I'm sorry you're in pain and I can't do anything. I hate seeing you hurting"

I uncurled and flew into his awaiting arms and kissed him. He obliged but was more careful than usual.

"I thought you wouldn't here me. I thought you wouldn't come", I said between sobs.

"I'll always be here for you, any time, any place. I'll be here". I wrapped my aching arms around him and held on. I would be quite happy staying like this forever.

"Are the bruises very visible?" I looked down at my body and my legs and arms were blue and purple. I glanced over my shoulder and shuddered, seeing the even darker and more defined indigo blotches across my back and shoulders.

"Here, take my sweater. Alice may say it doesn't go with that gorgeous dress, but at least you won't be worried about attracting attention to yourself, Edward pulled off his sweater, which was made from black cashmere. It smelled like him. The scent soothed me.

"Thanks Em, Jasper, you guys are the best". Emmett came and gave me a huge bear hug, but reframed from crushing my already fragile bones.

"We look out for our friends, Bells. We love you". Jasper followed Emmett's example and gave me a hug as well.

We walked in silence to the restaurant, but acted normally around Alice and Rose, not wanting to spoil the mood.

Dinner past quickly, though there were some unforgettable moments. Emmett laughed so hard at one of Jasper's jokes that the Coke he was drinking came out through his nose, Alice had a fit about my addition to her 'perfect' outfit and Edward didn't let go of my hand the entire meal.

The ride back was not as upbeat as the other trip. Edward and I looked deeply into each others' eyes, not knowing the right words to say before I left.

Goodbyes were tearful for the girls and the boys were just highly uncomfortable. My friends climbed into the Volvo again, leaving Edward and I alone.

"I… um…I". He was stuttering again.

"Edward, I'm getting serious déjà vu. Our first conversation consisted mostly of you stuttering, and now the last one is". I smiled, to show him I was joking.

"I need to tell you something, Bella. I think I've known it all weekend, I just didn't know how to tell you. I love you…"

No, not now. Don't do this to me Edward.

"Why are you doing this? You had all weekend to say it, and you didn't"

I was so angry. Now I want to leave less than ever. He just had to spoil this.

"I thought you felt the same, and I wanted it to be like a statement. This is me telling you, with all sincerity, that I love you, heart and soul. And this distance between us, I won't let it stop me from loving you"

"Edward, stop. You know that this is never going to work. It can't. I can't ask Alice to fly me up here all the time and you can't come down to Florida. This isn't going to work"

His face made me want to cry. His expression looked as if he were dying inside.

"I want it to work, Edward, really I do. But you've put hearts into this equation, and I need to protect mine. Look"

I showed him the scar from my feeble attempt at suicide. He looked shocked.

"This is a scar from when I slit my wrists in January this year. I had had enough. I was comparing my life that I have to the life I could have with you. My friends seemed worthless next to the connection we had, and my mom with Phil made me think about what our relationship could be like. I can't put m heart out there to get squashed because the boy I like is so unavailable"

"I understand all that. But could you just say you love me? Please?"

I started to cry. I was breaking the heart of the boy I was so deeply in love with; I just couldn't give him what he wanted.

"No. I'm sorry. Goodbye Edward". I kissed him lightly on the mouth and ran into my house.

I think we just broke up. I could feel my heart rip into two unfixable pieces underneath my bruised ribs.

**A/N** So there you have it. I thought bringing in the "lowlifes" from Twilight would give the story a twist. There is going to be a big jump in time. I will fill in a few gaps with flashbacks though.

REVIEW PLEASE!!! Thank you for reading, sox1020 x


	13. Chapter 13

Ok, I know I said there was going to be a big gap between the last chapter and this one… but I lied… well I didn't mean to, I just realised that a mini chapter was required in the middle to make the story more flowy… so here goes… enjoy! Sox1020

**Chapter 13**

**I thought my life was worse before…**

BPOV

I arrived back in Florida to be greeted by my mother with bags and redness round my eyes due to the fact that I had cried (as quietly as possible) for the entire flight home. Edward and I are finished as far as I can tell, but that isn't what I want. I want to be with him forever. Mom knew something was wrong from the minute she saw me, and managed to get the full story excluding no details on the car ride home. She seemed troubled and when I asked her what the matter was, she shrugged and said that I had given her a lot to think about.

Mom can to check on me while I was unpacking the small number of items that had accompanied me to Forks.

"Bells, honey, are you planning on seeing these girlfriends of yours again? I gather you aren't going to see Edward?"

"Well I don't know if he would want to see me. But why do you need to know if I'm seeing Rose and Alice? I will tell you if Alice is going to spontaneously pick me up in her private jet, I promise"

"I want to know because, well now I know that you want to see them, I am going to forbid you to". She looked at me with a very serious face.

"Why would you ban me from seeing the best friends I have ever had? You can't!" I hated crying, but tears began to run down my face.

"Because, last time I nearly lost you. I want you cut off from that whole bunch. They affect you too much. So I am monitoring your emails, phone calls, texts, everything. You are never to contact them. Ever. Understand?"

"No, I won't, I can't"

"Isabella Marie Swan, I will not ask you three times, I want the right answer. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, ma'am"

Mom walked out of my room in silence and I threw myself onto my bed and sobbed for what seemed like hours. I woke up at 1 a.m., realised that I had cried myself to sleep. I walked over to my desk and picked up my iPod, lay down on my bed again and played 'Take This to Heart' by Mayday Parade. That song made me cry even more as I went over the emotionally scaring events of yesterday. I unwillingly broke up with the only boy I will ever love in this life, and my mother has banned me from even speaking to him or anyone close to him that could help me stay connected to him in some small way. I lost my best friends forever yesterday. If anything, my mother has made me even more suicidal by doing this, regardless of the fact she wanted my reaction to be the opposite.

I went back to school an empty shell. My 'friends' abandoned me, not knowing how to be around someone so hollow. I worked when I got home. I didn't speak to my mother. The only upside to my ongoing situation was that my grades had shot up, even in Calculus.

When the time came to applying to college I saw my window, my calling. Alice was going to NYU. I applied for the English Literature course there and within a few months received an acceptance letter and information pack. Mom was un happy I wasn't going to be close to home, but I had already been granted financial aid, and had a room waiting for me the following September.

I had barely spoken to my mother since last October, it is now May. We used to be so close, could tell each other everything. I decided now that I had a chance of getting my friends back, I would forgive her, since I was leaving in a few months she had been very sad. Phil had even noticed a difference and asked if there was a slight chance we could make up. I like Phil. He is good for my mom. She needs someone like him and I was glad she had him.

As we reached the end of July, I looked back on the number of emails from Alice, Rose and even the occasional few from Em and Jazz, which I had left unanswered, though it almost killed me to ignore them. The number of messages Edward had left on my cell phone voicemail, pleading with me to call and talk. I had nearly leaned back to slitting my wrists at these points. Eventually Edward stopped calling, and I took this as a sign that he had moved on. I was happy for him. If he was happy, I was happy. I had simply hoped he would be happy with me.

The middle of September came, and I had packed up most of my stuff for college. This was the start of my life. Mom and Phil dropped me off at the airport and we blubbered out our goodbyes through our tears. Charlie even called to wish me luck and asked me to call and tell him about my first week. As I stepped on the plane, I felt freedom, I felt excitement, and I felt alive.

**A/N**: So? What do ya think?? Please review…. Please!!! There is much more to come… don't fret. To all those who have supported me from the beginning, I love you all.

Sox1020


	14. Chapter 14

My dear readers, I know the last chapter was short, but this is long to make up for it. There will be a few predictable moments, and some not so predictable. Enjoy X

Disclaimer: I don't own twilight.

I also do not own any songs that appear in this chapter.

**Chapter 14**

**The Shock**

BPOV

I was so nervous, yet so ready to be at this moment in my life. I climbed out of my cab and once the driver had unloaded my luggage, I made my way with difficulty up the steps into my new building. The room numbers were clearly signposted so finding my room was not a problem, unless you count the huge staircase I had to climb with my many bags and boxes. I was therefore forced to leave some of my stuff in the hall and make two trips to my room. Due to my unbelievable clumsiness, on my second trip up the stairs, I tripped up the steps and crashed straight into someone. The boxes I had now dropped were blocking my vision which had not helped matters at all.

"I am so sorry, I'm a born klutz", I looked up to see a pair of very familiar bottle-green eyes. This could not be happening. Not again. Not when I had thought I was finally over him.

"Bella? Bella Swan? Is that you?" His face lit up when he recognised me. It was happening again. I was right back to square one. Being forbidden to contact Edward had not changed my feelings in the slightest.

"Er, hi, Edward. What a surprise to see you. D… do you live in this building?" My voice quivered uncontrollably as I spoke. Please don't live here, please don't live here.

"Yeah, I do as a matter of fact. Room 2D." Unbelievable. The room number corresponded with the floor number; the letter referring to how far down the corridor the room was situated. Guess what room I'm in? 2C. This is my nightmares in reality. I had been scared just to see him again. What am I going to do now I live literally next door to him?

"Where are you staying?" Edward seemed a little too curious for my liking. He had obviously noticed some of the contents of my boxes now littering the staircase.

"Um, room 2C. This building." His eyes widened. I'm not sure whether it is a good thing or a bad thing.

"Well, um, let me help you with your boxes. We don't want you banging into people who have no idea how clumsy you are, now do we?" He smirked. He was joking, I knew that, but I was still uncomfortable.

We barely said two words to each other on the way up to my already cluttered room. He carefully placed the boxes he had carried onto my bed and turned to leave. Then he turned back,

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to be rude. But why are you here? I mean, I thought you were going to the University of Florida? Why come here instead?" He seemed angry, like I had trapped him and he didn't want to be here anymore.

"It is such a long story Edward", he flinched when I said his name, "no, actually, it really isn't a long story at all. It isn't even that complicated. It is simply too painful for me to go back there again. I can easily explain why I am here, but that would mean telling that story, and like I said, I would rather not." I looked down at the floor, not wanting to look into his perfect eyes anymore. The apparent hatred was too much to see. Tears welled up and a few escaped and slid slowly down my face.

"Why did you never call? I didn't realise when you broke up with me it meant I could ever talk to you again. What about Alice and Rose, huh? They called you so many times. Alice even planned a time for that trip to New York she was planning, but you didn't call back. Why? What excuse do you have for cutting out all your friends?"

Tears began to stream down my face. I forced myself to look at him. A mixture of anger and hurt was evident in his tortured expression.

"S…sit d…down. I'll have to tell you the story." He moved a box or two out the way and sat down on my bed. I sat down on the aged wooden desk chair across the room.

"When I got home, after that weekend, I was so… there aren't words to describe how sad I was. I missed you, and I wanted to tell you I was sorry, and that we could make it work. I decided all this on the plane. My mom got the whole story out of me. No unnecessary details, but the outline of the happenings of the weekend. She was worried because she thought I would slit my wrists again because I was so unhappy."

Edward gasped, "When did you before?"

I showed him the faded scar on my right wrist.

"It was about five months, maybe six after I got sent home from camp. My 'friends' at school were acting as fake as usual; my mother was spending all her time with her boyfriend Phil, who incidentally is now her husband. Everyone was ignoring me. I was depressed. I needed the friends who treated me like I was special, the boy who treated me like I was special. I never dreamed I would see you again and I couldn't live with that. But it didn't work. My mom found me just in time and I was in hospital for a few days."

"I am so sorry. Why didn't you tell me?" I looked straight at him,

"I didn't want to seem vulnerable. I didn't want your pity. So anyway, my mom didn't want a repeat of that time. She monitored my phone calls, texts, emails. All of your email addresses were blocked so I couldn't reply. Mom didn't realise that this didn't stop you sending me messages; making me unhappy that I was hurting you all. I wanted to call you so badly. I tried once but my mom caught me and confiscated my phone for a month. When you stopped trying to reach me, I", I broke down into sobs. Edward crossed the room in a flash and had his loving arms around me. I cried into his shirt, staining it with my salty tears. I managed to steady my voice enough to say,

"I barely ate for weeks. The only thing that kept me going was that I wasn't hurting you anymore, because you moved on. I wished with all my soul you would be happy, even if it wasn't with me."

Tears still cascaded down my cheeks, but I controlled myself.

"I came here because, well because it was far away from my mother, the course seemed interesting, and I remembered Alice saying she was applying here. I thought that this would be my ticket back into your lives. I missed the others everyday. But you, my heart has ached for you for over a year now. But I don't expect anything from you. I need you to know that."

"Bella, I, I don't know what to say. I". Outside the door someone was calling for Edward.

"Edward? Edward? Where the hell are you?" Edward groaned and looked at me with an apologetic gaze. A girl with strawberry blonde curls that fell to her waist stood at my door. She shot a questioning glance at Edward, then at me.

"Edward, honey, what are you doing in here? We were supposed to go get Alice and Jasper and get lunch. I'm sorry", she directed at me, "Edward has no manners, I am Tanya, Edward's girlfriend. You are?"

It would have hurt less if she had shot me. I wish she had.

"I'm Bella. Nice to meet you." I was stunned. I know I said I wanted him to move on, but seeing it before me was too hard. I couldn't handle it.

"Bella? The Bella? Bella Swan?" Yes, Tanya, what is your problem?

"Tanya. Don't." Edward warned her, but why? What was she going to say?

"No Edward, I would rather know the truth seeing as she is living next door to you. Are you Bella, the girl who broke up with Edward and shattered his heart into a million pieces? The love of Edward's life?" She seemed afraid to hear the answer. Her expression was tense.

"Enchanté." I said it, my voice shaking. By the look on Tanya's face, she could tell that I wasn't happy about the way she had described me.

"Sorry to be so blunt, I didn't mean that like it sounded. It's just that Edward would never have told me." I saw the apology in her eyes.

"That's enough Tanya, we have to leave or Alice will murder us." He turned to face me again, "We'll continue this discussion later. I still have questions. I'll tell Alice you're here and convince her to hear you out. She was rather angry with you last time I checked." He smiled briefly and then left, Tanya taking his arm.

I wanted to curl up in a hole and die. Edward had really loved me, and I destroyed any chance of him ever doing so again. How could I move on now with him here. I still loved him, body, mind and soul.

I decided that unpacking to overpowering music was a way to soothe the pain. I rummaged through my belonging and located my iPod dock and blasted out the first song that came on shuffle on my iPod. Unfortunately it was "Rest In Pieces" by Saliva. Not the most upbeat number, but it fit my mood perfectly.

_Would you find it in your heart_

_To make this go away_

_And let me rest in pieces?_

Those words penetrated me right to my heart. They were my situation in three simple lines of song. How is it that a complete stranger can define you so easily without even knowing you? My tears made yet another appearance on my cheeks as I listened to the passionate melody and gradually my room started to look more and homier. A knock at the door brought me back from my music coma and nearly gave me a heart attack. I span around to see the pixie I once knew with tears in her eyes. I ran straight over to her and flung my arms around her and she tightened my grip with her own arms around me.

"I'm so sorry. I never meant you to think I didn't want you as a friend anymore. I needed you so much. I never felt so alone in all my life. Please forgive me Alice." She broke us apart and looked straight at me, not even blinking. She sighed,

"I missed my best friend too. Edward explained everything, though not in as much detail as I would have liked. After that, I needed to talk to you. He said that Tanya came at completely the wrong time. He didn't expect to see you of course, and so never thought he would have to explain her. So you tell me your story and I'll tell you mine."

After about an hour filled with talking, more crying and general catching up, I learned that Alice and Jasper were living in an apartment together off campus and she was all set to marry him, though he hadn't proposed yet. Jasper had also met Alice's parents and though he had been a bit scared of Alice's dad, he had made a good impression.

"Ok, Alice, I told you my tale… your turn", I listened intently.

"Well, when you broke up with Edward in front of your house, well, we could hear every word. He got in the car and he was so distraught he couldn't even wait to get into his room before he started to cry. He couldn't understand why you just dumped him", Alice held her finger up to silence me even before I attempted to argue my point, "I know you had your reasons Bella, but you asked for my story, now listen to it." I nodded.

"So the rest of us left that day, but Jasper and I spoke on the phone everyday, just as normal, and he said that Edward wasn't any better, that he wasn't even close. For months he wasn't getting any better. Then suddenly, Edward announced he was bringing his new girlfriend round to dinner to meet the parents. Jasper couldn't believe it because you are the only girl Edward has brought home; regardless of the fact you were his only girlfriend before Tanya. Jasper knew Edward would only bring Tanya round if he was serious about her. But Jasper said he spoke differently about Tanya to how he spoke about you. There wasn't the same love resounding in his voice. He didn't laugh or smile when he talked about her. Jazz just knew Edward was trying so hard to replace you, he thought that was the only way to block out the pain and hide his shattered heart from the world."

My eyes began to leak again. I could not imagine the harm I had caused.

"When they announced they were coming here, Jazz and I couldn't believe it. Edward has always wanted to go to Columbia for college. We figured he was coming to NYU for Tanya. I know for a fact that he isn't over you Bella. How could he be? You were Edward and Bella, together forever. We were taking polls as to when he was going to propose. I was betting the minute you were both eighteen."

I laughed through my sobs. Alice put her arms around me again and we sat there for what seemed like hours in a comforting hug. We were interrupted by a knock at the door. I looked up from Alice's tear-stained shoulder and saw Edward standing in the doorway.

"Alice, can I talk to Bella please?" He wasn't forceful in his request. He almost seemed reluctant; like he wasn't sure he wanted to talk.

"Um, sure Edward", she stood up, wiped the tear tracks from her face and after whispering a quick 'I'll call you', she left.

"We need to talk. How much did Alice tell you?"

I was looking at the wall at some of my photos that were haphazardly put up,

"Enough"

He groaned.

"Edward, I am so sorry. But I need you to know that I'm not going to try and ruin you and Tanya. You look good together, better than you and I did. She's more in your league."

"You really think you're out of my league? I was out of yours Bella. You are so smart and beautiful and", and he stopped himself. He was treading in dangerous territory, and out of the corner of my eye I saw a shadow outside my door over Edward's shoulder. He is going to have to be very careful what he says now.

"Alice, she mentioned you weren't yourself, after I left I mean." I didn't want to push him in the deep end, but if there were still feelings there, I needed to know and so did Tanya.

"I was a wreck. I couldn't understand why you weren't returning any of my calls. I tried texting you, email, nothing worked. After a few months I thought that going out with someone else would help. That's when I started going out with Tanya. She had asked me out a couple of times at school, and I thought that since she liked me I could try going out with her."

"But it wasn't the same?" I went too far. Edward looked up into my eyes, and I saw Tanya's shadow twitch.

"At first it wasn't, but then I got to know her. She is clever and pretty and loving, I just don't love her."

"Why does that have anything to do with me?"

Just then, Tanya decided she had heard enough,

"Eddie, honey, wanna go and collect our schedules from the office?" She looked intently at him, daring him to refuse.

"Sure. I'll see you soon Bella."

"Yeah, ok."

The door was slightly ajar and from down the hall, I heard Tanya say,

"Hon, I forgot my jacket, I'll be down in a sec."

The next thing I knew, she had barged into my room and pushed me up against the wall, her hand round my throat.

"You bitch. I'll be damned if I let you steal my boyfriend from me. I heard every word you said, leading him, trying to catch him out." She pulled me away from the wall by my neck and shoved my head against the wall hard. My eyes were stinging with the pain.

"Touch him, no, talk to him again and I will kill you. Got it?"

"Yes", I said in strangled voice. I was gasping for breath, her grip was so tight.

She clunked my head against the wall again as a warning of the grievous bodily harm that would occur if I did not comply with her demands.

As soon as she left, I lay on my bed and cried. I remembered I still had Alice's number stored on my cell phone, so I called her.

"Alice, can I come over, I can't stay here tonight"

**A/N the next chapter will again be filled with surprises so please keep reading!! Please give me ideas for the next chapter in reviews… please???? Thanks to all my long-term readers.**

**- sox1020 **


	15. Chapter 15

Hey all! We are not quite through the rocky patch yet. There is still some trauma and messed up shit to come…. But persevere; the story is not over yet.

**Chapter 15**

BPOV

"What the hell happened?" Alice was very confused as I had called her and asked her if I could stay without much explanation. We were now sitting on her couch, and Jasper had just set a mug of hot chocolate in front of me on the coffee table. He sat behind Alice and she leant back into his arms.

"Well, Edward and I were talking about what happened after I left and Tanya was outside in the shadows. I should really have told Edward when I saw her, but I was worried we wouldn't get another chance to talk. We were talking about Tanya and he said some stuff about not being really happy with Tanya but was giving their relationship a chance because she liked him. Then I said 'But it wasn't the same?' and he said something like 'it wasn't at first but then I got to know her' then he said 'I just don't love her'." Jasper and Alice looked at each other. I could tell they were sharing the same thought, 'I told you so'.

"So then I said, 'What does that have to do with me?', and I could have sworn on my life that he was going to say he loved me or something similar."

"But?" How does Alice know there is a 'but'? She must be some kind of psychic.

"Well Tanya walked in and got him out of there, then came back and almost strangled me and threatened me to stay away from Edward and then she bashed my head against the wall. It still hurts like hell actually, could I possibly have some aspirin?"

Jasper went to get me a pill for my head-splitting migraine and Alice and I discussed possible assumptions we could make from today's events.

"She called him 'Eddie'." I only mentioned it because I hated that nickname, especially on my Edward. No Bella! Stop calling him that, you blew it, he isn't yours anymore.

"Well that is the clearest indication of their relationship we could get! Edward hates that nickname. If he hasn't told her it's because he hasn't anticipated their relationship lasting long. That's good for you Bella. It means he doesn't really want to be with her. I think you need to talk to him face to face, and alone, again. Get some answers from him this time. I know he still loves you. I can see his future, plain as day, and you are the only girl in it." She smiled. My sister was back.

"Thanks Ali, I am so glad I have you again. I knew I couldn't live without you. Hey, what is going on with Emmett and Rose?"

It turned out that Rose and Emmett were together at college in D.C. and were still as much in love with each other as ever. I was pleased for them. Alice and I decided we would go down and see them in Spring Break.

After Alice had turned the couch into a bed for me, I snuggled down under my covers and my one wish was that Edward was under them with me. My first night in the 'Big Apple' wasn't as great as I had hoped. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

That night I dreamt of Edward and me in the future, our whole lives, children, everything. Then I pictured Tanya come right in and erase it all. We were like slugs to her, and if there was any chance of us mating, she would pour salt on us simply to watch us squirm in pain.

The next day, I woke up early and left a note for Alice saying I would pay her back with dinner for her last minute hospitality. I walked into my room exactly half an hour before my first class of the semester. I have never showered so quickly in my life.

Class was great. We are reading and studying, of course, _Romeo and Juliet_. This was rather easy subject matter, but we discussed in it an astounding number of ways. We put it into everyday context and debated all lesson the possible outcomes in today's society, bearing in mind present technology and so on. It was highly interesting.

The rest of my day was free so I called Alice and we met up in a really nice diner a few minutes walk from campus. We chattered about classes and our professors and other meaningless trivia. Alice loved living with Jasper and they were planning on getting some kind of pet together. I was so happy for them. They had been together for three years, give or take. Jasper is bound to propose sometime.

On return to my room, I finished my assignment. I was typing my last sentence when I heard a faint tap on my door.

"Can I come in Bella?" Edward. Outside my door. What will Tanya think? What will Tanya do?

"What do you want Edward?" I sighed. I couldn't beat him. He had a control over me I would never be able to destroy or overlook.

"We need to finish our talk, if I'm not mistaken." I reluctantly crossed the cream carpet and nervously opened the door. Edward was standing in the doorway with my favourite crooked grin on his perfect face.

"Hey", we said in unison, and then laughed.

"Come in. What did you want to say?" I closed the door this time once he was through and sitting on my bed. I sat opposite him; I wasn't sure where to look, so I settled for looking him right in the eye.

"There is something I want to say to you, but I don't want to seem like the bad guy, even though I am. I should never have started going out with Tanya, because the truth is, I still am, and always will be in love with you Isabella Marie Swan." He didn't break eye contact. He was deadly serious.

"Wow, Edward, you can still dazzle me." I smiled. I couldn't take it anymore. I leaned forward and kissed him. He returned the kiss, his hands moved from on his lap to my waist. My arms wound round his neck, my fingers moving through his bronze hair. **(A/N this is staying rather PG-13, sorry if this disappoints) **Edward's fingers were tweaking the rim of my Led Zeppelin T-shirt. Without extracting my lips from his, I began to lift my shirt. Edward got the message pretty quickly and pulled the shirt over my head and began kissing me down my neck. I teased Edward's shirt off, revealing his stone carved chest. I kissed down his chest causing him to moan quietly. My lips found his again and we stood up and undid each others' jeans. Due to his being rather baggy, they fell to the floor. My heart skipped a beat, but that wasn't going to stop me. Edward pulled my jeans down. Luckily I shaved my legs the other night or I would have been very embarrassed. He kissed all the way up my smooth legs and then came back to my mouth. Skilfully, he unhooked my bra whilst maintaining firm contact with my mouth with his. I lay back on the bed, Edward climbing on top of me.

The next hour was a blur of slight pain and ecstasy. I must have fallen a sleep because I woke up to find Edward gently stroking my arm and back with his index finger.

"Hey you" is all I could think to say.

"Hey yourself. That was"

"amazing" I cut in. He chuckled.

"Yes, it was. I've been watching you sleep for the past half hour. You never looked more beautiful."

"I can't believe it took us this long to get here. I missed you", I moved up to his eye-level and kissed him. "Alice will be so excited we're back together. She was worried about me. I have no idea why."

"Um, Bella, I", he couldn't speak. Something is wrong. Whoa, he's not…

"You're not still with Tanya, right. You didn't just let me exposed my whole heart to you while you're still with her, did you?" He didn't say anything. That was my answer.

"Get out. GET OUT. I HATE YOU EDWARD CULLEN; NOW GET THE FUCK OUT MY ROOM". I screamed. He dressed without another word and left.

I hate him. I HATE him. Arsehole. There was me thinking that was the new beginning for us. No, just Edward obviously trying to decide who to stick with. Bastard.

I couldn't do anything but cry. How is it that you can trust someone so completely that you go all the way to show them how much you love them and they make you feel so worthless? How could he do that to me?

EPOV

Why did I just do that to her? Why didn't I break up with Tanya before? I'm such a bastard. All I can hear is those heart-wrenching words she shouted at me. Probably the last words she will ever say to me,

_I HATE YOU EDWARD CULLEN_

Well Bella, I hate myself too right now.

If she hates me so much then she can't love me. But do I stay with Tanya? I need help.

_____ x___________________x__________x______________________x________

**A/N: So here it is. My next lemon will be slightly more informative, I promise. I thought I would give you a glimpse of Edward's mind just so you don't think that he is a total bastard, unlike Bella. Just in case it escaped you…. Edward has had sex before, with Tanya, but that was Bella's first time. **

**The road isn't plain sailing yet my devoted readers; there are still a few bumps. I love you all, special mention is to needia13. **

**- sox1020**


	16. Chapter 16

My lovely readers… I hope you all appreciate my extremely regular updates; I am slap bang in the middle of the most important exams of my life. But I figure that I am practising English, so what's the harm!? Still some large potholes in the road to happiness for Bells and Eddie… keep reading… and REVIEWING!!!

**Chapter 16**

**You're what?????**

BPOV

Crying on Alice's couch was how I spent most of the rest of the day. I missed class and probably my next assignment. I will have to get it off Angela, the girl I sit next to. She is nice, and doesn't ask too many questions.

I spent the next few weeks busying myself. I worked, saw Alice and Jasper, and ate and slept. That was my existence. When Christmas came just three weeks to the date of my night with Edward, I was surprised by Alice and Jazz with a flight plan. Alice had booked her father's private jet so we could go to D.C. for Christmas and spend the holiday with Emmett and Rose. I was so excited. I packed a full four days prior to our departure! When we arrived, Emmett and Rose welcomed me back with barely a moment's hesitation. I had some explaining to do, but they forgave me willingly.

Christmas Day was fantastic. We woke up to the smell of pancakes coming from the kitchen of the huge flat Emmett and Rose shared. We then proceeded to the couch which had a magnificent tree standing proudly next to it. There were tons of presents, big and small; lining the trunk of the fir and all I could do was smile. Rose turned on a cheesy Christmas song CD and we sang along to our favourites.

Having whittled our present piles down to the last one or two, we decided to leave them until after lunch, and sat down to an enormous turkey feast. Plates of stuffing, vegetables and potatoes covered every inch of the table and it all looked simply divine. I had barely sat down for two seconds when I felt the sudden urge to vomit. I covered my mouth and ran at full pelt to the bathroom, bumping into a few walls on the way. My head hung over the toilet bowl for several minutes before I was brave enough to stand up again and attempt to eat our lunch.

I heard a knock at the door, "Bells, honey, are you alright?" Alice cracked the door open a tiny bit, and seeing I was upright, she came in and put her arm round my waist. "Yeah Al, I'm fine, just a bit sick that's all. I don't know what I ate though."

I was genuinely puzzled as to the reason of my unexpected vomiting. I had only eaten salad for the past couple of days, and food poisoning usually kicks in after about eight hours. I thought back over the last couple of weeks. I hadn't eaten anything dodgy; I hadn't taken any medication that I could have been allergic to. The only thing I had done that was out of the ordinary was sleep with…

"Alice, will you come with me to the drug store?" She looked worried. "Bells, it won't be open, it's Christmas day! I'm sure Rose has some Pepto-Bismol or something you could take to stop the nausea." I was currently staring straight at my feet, and when I finally got up the courage to look up, I saw Alice's perplexed expression.

"I don't want Pepto-Bismol, Al; I think I might need a pregnancy test." Her face went from confused to horrified in the space of a second.

"Pregnant! How can you be pregnant? You used protection with Edward, didn't you?" I thought back… he hadn't used a condom, and I definitely didn't take the Pill the next morning. How could we have been so stupid? "You did use something right?"

"Um… no", I whispered in shame of my own foolishness. Alice stared at me, unable to find words.

"But I might not be pregnant, Al; I haven't taken a test yet." She walked towards the door and called out, "Rose, can you come in here for a sec?"

Rose came in and looked from Alice to me, then back to Alice, waiting for an explanation no doubt.

"Rose, do you keep pregnancy tests in your cabinet?" She looked shocked at the obviously highly unexpected question.

"Well I have one or two, just in case, you know, what with me and Emmett being rather sexually overactive, and with us living together. Why?" She was blushing slightly, evidently she had just heard what she said in her head and was a bit embarrassed at the information she had divulged.

"I think I might be pregnant" I said awkwardly.

"What! But you have to have sex to be pregnant. When did you have sex Bella? And with whom?" I wasn't sure whether to take her comment as simple curiosity or as an insult. It's not as if I hadn't had the opportunity, I just wanted to wait.

"I slept with Edward a few weeks back. I only just realised we weren't protected."

"Oh, Bella, finally you two are back to normal. Why didn't you tell me?" Rose looked so pleased for me; it made me feel so sad that her assumption was far from the truth.

"We aren't back together. He has a girlfriend. We just got caught up in the moment."

Rose's expression became sympathetic. She knew how much I loved him, and had obviously fixated on the 'new girlfriend' scenario. She reached into her bathroom cabinet and produced a long thin box with a picture of a pregnancy stick on the side.

"We'll give you some privacy", Alice muttered as she and Rose slid through the door.

I sat down on the toilet seat and took a deep breath. Luckily I needed to pee, or this would have been a bit more difficult. I read the instructions on the leaflet in the box. They seemed simple enough:

1. Urinate on the indicated end of your pregnancy stick.

2. Wait for 60 seconds to give the urine time to react with the test.

3. A blue '+' means positive, and a blank means negative.

Note/ We suggest that if no cross appears, wait for double the time in case of a slow reaction. If your test reads positive, take another test in case of a false positive.

Like I said, simple. I followed the instructions, and placed the stick in the sink to wait for the answer. It was a bit like 'Lucky 8 ball', only without such a decisive outcome. According to the leaflet, even a positive wasn't definitely certain until another test was taken. Yes, No, Maybe, were my possible answers. The first would change my life forever. The second would be a blessing. The third would probably cause me to sweat bullets until I saw the second test reading.

I called Alice and Rose back in. "Do the guys know?" I wasn't sure how jazz would react to his twin brother knocking up his ex-girlfriend in his first year of college. He would probably hate me too for not taking the Pill or checking we were being safe. "No, we didn't want to make a fuss if it was a false alarm." Alice was always very diplomatic about things.

Before my eyes I saw the small blue cross forming in the space on the stick. My heart rate doubled and I began to hyperventilate. I looked around at my two best friends to find there eyes directed at the stick in earnest. They seemed to be willing the cross to disappear. "Rose do you by any chance have another test so I can check?" I laughed nervously. "Yep" and she reached into her cabinet again and produced an identical box to the last one.

Five minutes later, I was in floods. "I'm… I'm pregnant. What is Edward going to say?" Rose and Alice had their arms round me and were squeezing the life out of me.

"I don't know Bells, but I think you should come and eat something." Rose was always very practical; 'Eat food and forget that in nine months you will be popping out a watermelon and huge responsibility.

We exited the bathroom in a line and crashed straight into Em and Jazz who had apparently been listening at the door.

"What the hell is going on? The turkey is getting cold!" Emmett demanded.

"I'm pregnant". I just blurted it out. Just like that. Jazz and Em's faces turned to stone.

"You what?" Jazz was the first to speak.

"Who's the father?" Trust Emmett to ask the most unappealing question.

"Edward", Rose and Alice spoke in unison. And the stoney faces reappeared.

"You're going to be an uncle, Jazz!" I said in an attempt to lighten the mood, "So would you mind giving me an idea of how to tell your twin brother that I am pregnant with his child because we didn't use protection. Oh, and that I'm keeping the baby."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Yet another shocker! The next couple of chapters will be baby related, and I would like to hear your views on how Bella should tell Edward. Make them as imaginative as possible! I haven't decided whether she will tell him next chapter or the chapter after that… I like to keep you guessing!

- love sox1020


	17. Chapter 17

Hey everyone. I thought I would make you wait for this chapter seeing as I am usually so prompt at updating. I reach 2000 hits this morning, so I would like to say THANKYOU for reading. I would love to reach 100 reviews by the summer or even before (my summer starts on 26th June!) and right now I am on 76, so keep reviewing!!! Here is the latest: Bella is pregnant!

**Chapter 17**

BPOV

I am so worried. It has been nearly two and a half months since I took the pregnancy test, and I haven't told Edward. Edward: the father of my child, the boyfriend of Tanya, the love of my life. Why is it so hard to tell him about the human being growing inside me? I know, because the human being growing inside me will change his life forever. The last thing I want is for him to resent me for that fact. No, actually, the last thing I want is for Edward to pick me on the basis that I am carrying his first child. If I pass him on the stairs, I look the other way. If he tries to talk to me, I ignore him. The worst part of waiting and procrastinating is that pregnancy starts to show after about three months, and my time is basically up. I can feel my abdomen protruding and I cannot suck it back in, no matter how hard I try.

I have been attempting to produce assignments like a photocopier, but with the extra amount of sleep I need with the baby, I have no time to eat I am so behind. I was running down the path to my class, brushing past none other than Edward as I went, when I stopped; feeling faint and then collapsed on the ground. I felt the concrete slabs hit my head as I made heavy contact with the floor. I heard a faint call of "Bella", and then blacked out.

EPOV (A/N Sorry, an EPOV is long overdue.)

"Bella", I shouted automatically as I watched her fall in slow motion. The sound of her head hitting the ground resounded in my ears like a gunshot. I ran the short distance between us, screaming "Someone call an ambulance" and scooped her up easily in my arms. I walked carefully towards the nearest bench, trying not to jolt her too much, and sat down.

"Bella, honey, can you wake up for me, please? Bella?" I attempted to talk her out of her obvious concussion until the screaming sirens of the ambulance came into audible range. The medics allowed me to go with her, so I climbed in and gripped onto her hand. All through that journey to the hospital I willed her to open those beautiful brown eyes.

When we reached the hospital, the medics wheeled her inside and crowded her. I tried to see her but was asked politely but firmly by one of the nurses to wait in the waiting area. I sat there for what seemed like an endless amount of time, going through possible scenarios. The bump on her head could have caused brain damage, she could have had a seizure, she could have had some other complicated medical thing, or the worst, she could have died.

A different nurse came out with a neutral expression on her face. This is it. The end of my life because she is going to say something supposedly caring like 'we did everything we could'.

"Excuse me, but you are the one who came in with Miss Isabella Swan?"

'Bella', I thought in my mind. But wait, if Bella hasn't corrected the nurse yet, that means she hasn't woken up yet.

"Yes, I'm Edward Masen. Is Bella ok?"

"She is sleeping. She has some bruising from the bump to her head. We did an ultrasound to check if the baby was alright."

What? What baby? What? What?

"I'm sorry, did you say baby?" I am in shock. The only person Bella has slept with, to my knowledge, is me. I'm the father. Oh my God.

"Yes Mr. Mason. Miss Swan is just over three months pregnant. The amniotic fluid protected the baby this time, but she can't afford another fall like that and nor can the baby."

I am overwhelmed. She is a third of the way through her pregnancy and she still hasn't come to talk to me.

"She is, to put it mildly, accident-prone. I'll watch her. I'm the father of the baby." That was something I wasn't expecting to say for a few years. Father of the baby; yep, that is a new one.

"Would you like to see her?"

"Yes, please."

We walked down a pristine, white corridor and into a private room where, propped up in bed was a shocked Bella. She obviously wasn't asleep anymore.

"Edward, what are you doing here?"

"Just bringing the mother of my unborn child to hospital when she collapsed, why?"

She looks horror-struck. Perfect. Now she can feel the shame I want her to for not telling me the truth. I turned to the nurse and asked her to give us some privacy. As soon as she closed the door, I turned and glared at Bella.

"How could you not tell me you are pregnant? How long have you known? You are three months along; did you think I wouldn't notice?" Now she was angry.

"Ok, my turn for question time. Why did you have sex with me while you were still with Tanya? Why are you still with Tanya? Why would I tell a guy that he got me knocked up on my first time when he is dating someone else? Do you still love me, or was I just a game to you?" I woke a beast. She is hyperventilating.

"Are you going to answer my questions first, or shall I answer yours?" I asked.

"I'll answer yours. I think my answer to question one was in my questions. I thought you didn't care about me and I didn't want Tanya to attack me again." Whoa, what? I was about to interrupt when Bella held her finger up to indicate she was not to be interrupted.

"I have known since Christmas. I took two pregnancy tests with Rose and Alice and then got checked out when I got back from D.C. I thought that by the time you noticed that I could peg the pregnancy on some drunken night and you would never need to feel obligated. That may be stupid to you, but I didn't want you around just for the baby. It was for either both of us or not at all. Now it is your turn to talk, but I would prefer you to answer my questions before you query my answers." She looked at me intently.

"Well, I wasn't expecting to have sex with you, it just happened. When you yelled at me, I thought that I had blown it so I didn't break up with Tanya because she still wanted me. I am still with Tanya for that same reason, and because she doesn't avoid me. Irregardless to the fact that I was with Tanya and beside the fact that she would apparently 'attack' you, which we will discuss later, you should have told me about the baby. Of course I still love you, how could that possibly have changed?"

She had tears in her eyes by the end of my last sentence. She looks so beautiful; even in a hospital gown and tear-stained face.

"You love me? Really?" I nodded. "I love you too". Those words brought warmth all around my body. Like she had slotted in my missing piece or filled a void. I kissed her gently.

"I miss you Bella. I want us to be together. I will protect you from Tanya's wrath. What was that about, anyway?"

"Well, when she came in and got you to go out for lunch with Ali and Jazz, she came back into my room when she said she went to get her coat and clonked my head against the wall, twice." I was shocked. Speechless. My girlfriend is a nut-job.

"I am so sorry, I had no idea. Wait, you were in D.C. with my brother and all our friends and none of them thought to tell me?" Being a twin has no bloody value these days.

"I made them swear not to tell you. Not that Rose and Em could tell you seeing as they live in D.C., but Ali and Jazz swore to give me all the time I needed and would not talk about it with you until I let them know I had told you. They didn't anticipate that they would have to push me to do it because I am three months along and if this hadn't have happened then you still wouldn't know. I collapsed because I have been pushing myself to finish assignments whilst trying desperately to get enough sleep to make it through the day. I'm so tired that I fall asleep before I get the chance to eat something. I don't think I've eaten a substantial meal in a week or so, which is so bad for the baby. All I know is that I have needed you helping me for a while now and I didn't have the guts to tell you." Tears dripped down her face.

"You have me, from now on. I won't lose you again." I pulled her into a hug and rested my chin on her head. I could smell the strawberry shampoo in her hair.

"I need to go and sort some things out, but I'll be back. I love you." I smiled at her, and her face almost lit up.

"I have missed that smile. I love you too." And with that, I left the small private room.

I dialled Tanya's number and asked her to meet me at our favourite coffee place. I noticed she had called three times, and each time she had left a voicemail. I didn't really like the idea that I had cheated on her. But she had to know all the facts, and that I couldn't be with her anymore. I walked through the glass door of the coffeehouse and Tanya's strawberry blonde curls instantly caught my eye. She was sitting on our usual couch in the corner.

"Edward! Where have you been? I've been calling you all day."

"I've been in the hospital with Bella. She collapsed on the path and I was there, so it made sense for me to take her rather than some other student who didn't know her."

"You've been with Bella. Look, Edward, I know you were in love with her, but you have to move on. It has been over two years now."

"That isn't true Tanya; I am still in love with her. I'm really sorry, but we can't go out anymore. Bella's pregnant, and I would want to be with her even if she weren't. She still loves me too, so we're going to try again and then when the baby comes, we'll raise it together. I don't want you going anywhere near her. She told me you hit her head against a wall? What were you thinking? You didn't know her, and you obviously didn't trust me enough to be faithful to you."

"But you weren't faithful, were you? You had sex with her. You got her pregnant! Why the hell should I have trusted you, you son of a bitch."

"That is enough Tanya. Stay away from me and from Bella." I left without a glance back into that corner. I will have to find a different place to go for coffee.

**A/N **That's all folks, for now. I am going to skip to the end of Bella's pregnancy, to around the 8 month mark so I can do baby shower stuff and then of course, the birth. I am not going to be overly graphic because in the words of Chandler Bing, it is "one disgusting miracle" and I don't really want to write it!! Please help me reach 100 reviews… it will take you 2 seconds to write one!! Thanks, sox1020


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18 already!!! Just wanted to say that your fabulous support as my readers has been incredible! Would be even more if everyone reviewed but… ho hum, I can't have everything. This Chapter is a jump in time from the last… but not much seeing as Bella was already 3 months into her pregnancy. This is the 8 month mark onwards. Bella will fill gaps with mindless inner chatter and there may be a few flashbacks too! I spoil you all so much… but I love you! So enjoy, and remember… REVIEW!!!**

**Chapter 18**

**I can't see me loving nobody but you for all my life**

BPOV

Eight months. I am officially eight months pregnant today. That is such a scary thought. I have been avoiding thinking about the giving birth bit for months because it is supposed to be so painful that your ass nearly explodes. It is all ok though because Edward will be there with me. Edward. He has been so wonderful these past five months when he actually knew I was pregnant. I love him so much. Of course, being pregnant, we haven't really been able to move forward in our relationship physically. We have had sex before; the proof is sticking out underneath my top, but that was it. On the other hand, mentally, we were almost married in my eyes. He was so committed to me and the baby and he loved us. Edward has been staying in my room for pretty much the last five months, which I have no problem with. The only setback is that with my growing body, space has become more limited in my bed. Sleeping is the epitome of discomfort. I can't sleep on my front and if I turn to the side then Edward falls out of bed due to the several inches of belly I have acquired.

Alice has been going insane and crazy planning my baby shower. It is going to be slightly less traditional as we are going to be playing twister in Ali and Jazz's flat and drinking beer and listening to music. Although I am going to be the permanent spinner person because if I bend over I won't be able to get up again! The beer drinking is for the rest of the party while I am on water because even Coke has caffeine in it, and the music is going to be strictly pop rock because I want it to get into the baby's system so I can calm it down with music. Our whole group, plus a few friends from college will be attending and I am starting to get excited too. Alice also mentioned presents. I am partial to any event where presents are involved. I really am getting really excited since it is tomorrow.

"Bella, will you spin fast, I am in serious pain!" Alice yelled from her pretzel position on the mat of torture, also know as Twister. Edward, Em and Jazz seemed less pained since they had consumed most of the beer that Ali had provided. Edward's friend Seth was also here, but he was content enough watching the torture from next to me. He was very sweet and every so often asked questions about the baby and how Edward and I were coping. Angela had to cancel at the last minute because her long distance boyfriend Ben was in town for the long weekend and she wanted to see him. I understood; I was in a similar situation a couple of years ago. I just hope their weekend doesn't end the way mine did.

Present time came around after Alice managed to thrash the guys at Twister. I received a rather too large present from Jasper and Alice. I guessed that Alice had bought most of it, but she insisted I kept it when I pleaded with her to take some of it back. She had bought me a crib, changing table, toys and three outfits with seriously expensive designer labels on them. Emmett and Rose had bought me a pram and the most beautiful teddy a baby could ask for. It was so soft and smelled so lovely -like honey- that I almost kept it for myself! Seth had bought a lovely rattle that jingled every time it moved even the slightest inch. Edward, well I hadn't even thought he would bother buying me something seeing as it was his baby too, but he produced a receipt for an apartment a few blocks away from Alice and Jasper's building. He had even paid for the next three months rent and utilities.

"Edward, this is too much. I mean, it is wonderful and I love you for it, but how can you afford this?" He smiled sweetly and stroked my hair and placed his hand lovingly on my baby bump,

"Well, my parents gave me money for my living expenses to spend over the next three years, and I had a job in senior year and I saved all of that money. Partly because my allowance did not cover the numerous occasions that I had to fill up the car going out, and partly because I was saving up to come and see you." Now I had tears in my eyes. He is so wonderful. What did I do to deserve him? "But then stuff got in the way of those plans and I never really spent the money, so it has just been sitting in my account earning interest. Of course I will have to get a job to replace what we spend."

"Well I insist on helping too. Renee did the same for me, so if we pool our money together then it will be fine. But, Edward, wow, I love you so much." I gave him a peck on the lips which incidentally was a lot more lingering than I initially intended, but I wasn't complaining.

We were all set to move into our new apartment in a week. Edward and I had boxed up the stuff we didn't use on a regular basis and Alice and Jasper had been kind enough to let us keep it at their place seeing as it was so close to our building. It had been a week since the baby shower and now I was starting to freak out a bit. I finally realised what my parents were talking about on that fateful day Edward and I got up the courage to tell our parents we were pregnant.

_Flashback_

_Mom and Charlie are coming up to see me and they have no idea why. Edward invited his parents too. I was looking forward to seeing Elizabeth, Edward's loving mother, but extremely scared to be telling Edward's very strict father. Edward Senior was a nice man, but I was prepared to hear, "You're ruining my son's life!" _

_Edward and I had decided to tell them in a private space to avoid total embarrassment, and as Jasper and Alice were going to Vermont for the weekend for a romantic getaway, they had lent us their place for the terrible deed. Alice and Jazz really were amazing. Jazz was Edward's twin, but still, they were so giving and helpful. I would love to call Alice my sister in law one day. There is no way that Jazz and Ali won't end up together. And knowing Edward, we will be together forever as well. _

_Edward had prepared a lovely lunch of chicken, rice, a variety of cold meat and salads. We sat and waited for the buzzer to sound. I kept looking at my belly. There was a clearly defined bump now, being four and a half months pregnant, so I would not have long to explain before someone –undoubtedly Renee- would catch on. Edward held my hand and gave it a squeeze._

"_It will be all over in a few hours, and once they get over the shock and we explain our plans, then I am positive they will be happy for us. And if they aren't, then we shall do this without their support."_

_The buzzer sounded. My pulse doubled and my palms began to sweat. Luckily Edward had already released my hand and gone to buzz our parents in. _

_My plan of action for the hugs hello was to bend forward as much as possible. If Renee or Charlie pulled me too close they would know immediately. Edward opened the door and cheerful greetings could be heard from my seat. "Darling, it has been too long since your last phone call, let alone our last meeting. And where is Bella?"_

"_I'm here Elizabeth" I managed to spit out. _

"_Bells, how are you?" Charlie bellowed, and Renee ran up to me and pulled me into a hug. Thank goodness I managed to keep enough distance between us. _

"_Come and have lunch everyone." Edward called over the noise. Our idea was that Charlie would eat so much since he only got off the flight two hours ago, that he would not be able to get up and strangle Edward for knocking me up in my first year of college._

_Lunch passed amicably though Edward and I stole a few nervous glances between us. We filled in Elizabeth and Edward Senior about Jasper's wellbeing and how he and Alice were going. Renee wanted to hear stories about my classes and Charlie just wanted to hear something. It was rare that I called Charlie so he appreciated any news. Though I was sure he would not appreciate the fact that he would be a grandpa in five short months' time._

_We sat down on the couches with our coffee, me with my water due to the fact that my pregnancy ruled out caffeine. Edward, my hero, had offered to tell them prior to their arrival, so he stood up and called for quiet._

"_Now I am sure you are all wondering why we invited you all here. No, it was not just for the delight of seeing you all." He chuckled and Elizabeth and Charlie joined him. Renee looked worried and Edward Senior seemed more stiff and guarded, almost preparing himself for the worst._

"_Bella and I got back together last month officially. But prior to that, I was in a relationship with a girl called Tanya as you know, Mom and Dad. I am ashamed to say, that after a few weeks of being reunited with Bella as a friend, I cheated on Tanya with Bella."_

_All four parents looked shocked and stared first at me, then at Edward. They all seemed about to speak, but Edward stopped them,_

"_Please let me finish. The next month or so was complicated and Bella and I were not speaking. She went to D.C. for Christmas with Jazz and Ali to see Rose and Emmett, and when she came back, we still weren't on speaking terms. About two months later, Bella was walking to class when she collapsed on the path. Luckily I was there and I took her to hospital. This is when I found out she was…pregnant."_

_A whole rush of emotions consumed the apartment. Edward Senior was shouting at me for the very reasons I had expected. Elizabeth was shouting at her husband, telling him to let us explain. Charlie was trying to get out of his comfy armchair to strangle Edward and Renee was attempting to sustain him. It was my turn to say something._

"_I know you all must be angry. We are young and still in college and you may think we are ruining our lives, but we have plans. And you need to hear my side of the story. I actually found out at Christmas with everyone else. I could have had it terminated, but I didn't. I don't know why, but I definitely wanted Edward's opinion before I killed our first child. I just didn't get up the guts to tell him until I was three months along and it felt too late for me. In my heart I felt I couldn't abort it anymore, not biologically. We are going to look after this baby and do college as well. Alice and Jazz have offered to help and we are going to try and get an apartment once we have enough money. This is going to be so scary and exciting, but it will be a lot harder for us if you all are not on board. I am not sure we can do this without your support." I took a deep breath and sat down. _

_Renee decided it was her turn to say her piece,_

"_Of course I support you honey, but taking care of a child, especially at your age is going to be hard. Look at me and your father. Our marriage couldn't survive the strain because we were so young and suddenly we had each other and a baby to look after. It is a lot to take on. But I will help you all the way."_

"_We're behind you all the way my dear, aren't we Ed?" Elizabeth said kindly._

"_I guess I have no choice in the matter. You want to make me and Charlie grandpas so young?" Everyone laughed at Edward Senior's apparent main concern._

_Charlie just smiled at me and I knew it was his way of wishing me all the best and telling me he loved me and was there for me when I needed him. My dad wasn't big on showing emotion. Being abandoned by his family had changed him._

_In the end, Edward's parents had left us some money for baby things, and Mom invited us down to Florida after the baby was born. _

_End of Flashback…_

We only have a few days now until our move-in date, and the baby is due in three weeks. So much is happening, it is so overwhelming.

Edward and I were lying in bed in my room, reading Wuthering Heights to the baby, when all of a sudden; I felt a gushing down below.

"Edward, I think my water just broke"

…..

….

…

..

.

**Duh Duh Duhhhh… ok so it is kinda obvious what the next chapter is about. Please review and tell me if you want me to put something into the plot… e.g. complication in the birth… baby dies (I know they are both sinister but, hey, it is a twist right?!)**

**Please review!!!!!!!!!!!!!! **

**Thanks, sox1020**


	19. Chapter 19

**I am so sorry that I have not updated in yonks, but my end of term is in a few days and so I will be able to be more prompt. Here we have it… the birth will be less graphic than Knocked Up, but enough that I am actually describing it…. It won't be a long paragraph so if you don't want to read it because you think it will freak you out then just skip it! Enjoy x**

**Chapter 19**

**The Birth**

BPOV

"_Edward, I think my water just broke"_

"Oh my god. I'll get the bag, you grab the pillow then we will go get a cab. I'll call everyone on the way. It's going to be fine, baby, ok. Are you in pain?"

He is just the most perfect guy. God I love him. Fuck, contraction, shit this hurts. I grabbed hold of Edward's hand and nearly squeezed it off. What is with this pain? Is it totally necessary? Apparently it gets steadily worse and worse until you just want the doctor to cut you in half so you won't feel it anymore. I am not looking forward to that.

"Ok, I am guessing you are in pain because you are cutting off my circulation." He grinned crookedly. I breathed through the contraction and picked up my pillow and held it close to me for comfort and because I couldn't kill it from squeezing it too hard. Edward was ready within minutes with my bag for the hospital and helped me down the stairs, though this was a struggle as I could barely see my feet, let alone run down steep stairs. Hailing a taxi didn't take long and we climbed in and told the driver to step on it. I wasn't sure if he was more concerned about me giving birth in his car or the mess it would make.

I hugged the pillow and held Edward's hand on his insistence. Pain was not going to be an issue with him. He was there for me no matter what. That is one of the many things I love about him. He called Alice and Jazz and put me on the phone to say hi. It sounded like they were running down the steps to catch a cab while I was on the phone. They were incredible friends, and a good thing too because we needed good godparents. We called Rose and Emmett and Rose hung up almost immediately so she could call the airport and book a flight. They were coming as soon as possible. They too were the best friends I could have asked for and more. Rose called back within minutes and said she would be arriving in fourteen hours and to hold it in as long as possible. I told her to go to hell. There was no way I was holding this torture child in any longer than I had to.

On arrival at the hospital, Edward got me a wheelchair and wheeled me to reception, where we were directed to a private room. Edward had insisted on one, being the best boyfriend and soon-to-be baby daddy ever. He sat up against the white hospital pillows and I lay against him. He linked fingers with me, ready for the next contraction. They were coming closer and closer together and becoming rapidly more painful. Within half an hour they were seven minutes apart, and it was around this time that Ali and Jazz arrived. Edward was whispering calming nothings in my ear and reminding me to breathe and not to panic and though this wasn't really helping, I appreciated the effort.

Then Alice burst through the door, followed by Jazz.

"Bella, honey, you are so early! Is the baby ok?" She kissed my cheek and squeezed my arm, taking a seat at my bedside. Jazz pulled up another chair next to her, a comforting smile on his face. Jazz was a guy of few words. Partly because Alice talked so much and partly because he was a bit shy. But his facial expressions and emotions made up for his lack of verbal volume. He could change my mood with one smile. He was infectious and no matter how annoyed you were, he could make you happy in seconds. It was like a gift.

"The baby is fine. They did a scan earlier and they said that it was just one of those things. Sometimes the baby just wants to come out early. That is why I am so far along already. Usually the first baby takes hours and hours to come out, but I am already like six or seven centimetres dilated. The nurse said it will be out in the next hour. But I'm really scared. I mean I read the books and they all said it is really painful but it's worth it when you see its face… but I am kinda focussing on the painful birth part." I chuckled nervously and Edward tightened his grip on my fingers lovingly. Then I return his actions but hundred times harder because my worst contraction yet had just started. God there is no other pain to match this. Guys get off easy. I wonder why guys don't have a pain like this that is mandatory. What did girls do wrong? I know the world theories that Eve damned all women to pain and suffering for being too curious for her own good, but that can't really be taken seriously.

The nurse came in followed by our doctor. He was really supportive. We had checked out a few doctors before we had chosen him. He was the most upbeat and friendly and open minded of the group. He didn't fixate on the fact that we were so young or anything that really wasn't his business. He simply told us what we needed to know and helped us design a birth plan, and that was that.

The nurse checked my cervix and announced, "Ten centimetres. Baby time, Bella. You ready?" I gazed into space. My baby was coming. I was not drugged up. I was going to feel everything. Now I am panicking. Shit!

"Edward, I can't do this. Do it for me, please? It is going to hurt. I can't do this. I can't." He responded to my total panic attack by lightly kissing my neck and exposed right shoulder (the hospital gown was huge on me), and whispering in my ear, "You can do this. I know you can, and as much as I want to do this for you, I can't. But I will be here through the pain and the screaming. Squeeze as much as you want, my hands are at your disposal." Then he leaned forward and I turned my head so I could kiss him. The kiss was passionate but short, and I knew it was like Edward's good luck to me.

"Bells, Jasper and I are going to wait in the waiting area and the nurse will come get us when the baby is ready to meet his future Auntie Alice."

"What?! What do you mean future aunt? Are you two…"

"We'll talk later, bye!" Alice yanked Jazz out the door. I turned to Edward,

"Are they engaged?" He looked as puzzled as I was.

"I have no idea, but it sounds like it." He smiled fondly. He was evidently happy for his twin. I was unbelievably happy for my best friend. Of course, we all knew that the two of them would end up together forever, just like we all assumed Rose and Em would and Edward and I would. It seemed so much more real with Alice and Jazz apparently making it official and Edward's and my baby. We were growing up and it was terribly scary. The more you want time to stand still, the fast it goes.

"The baby is coming Bella, time to push." The doctor ordered.

I pushed, and screamed at the top of my lungs. The pain was exploding through me. I felt everything, and I hated it.

"The baby's head is crowning. I need a big push from you now Bella. Once the head is out it is very quick. This is the last hurdle."

"Come on, baby, he or she is nearly here." Edward was trying and failing to provide me with a solid silver lining to this agony. Of course I wanted to see my baby, but not if it hated me so much it would put me through this.

"Ow, ow, ow, shit this hurts so much. Edward, make it stop."

He made me forget the pain the only way he knew how. He lightly kissed every inch of my skin he could reach in his current position. The torture seemed to slowly ebb away. I was pushing with all the strength I could muster. Every time Edward's soft lips grazed my skin, more of the intense pain disappeared. It was like he was cutting off all my nerves.

"Head is out, shoulders, torso, legs, feet. She is here."

I sat up, the pain was gone, I was free. And he just said that I had a daughter.

"A girl? Did I hear right?" I looked round to see Edward's face. He had tears in his eyes, which of course triggered my tears as well. Edward gave me a passionate kiss and the nurse gently laid my new baby girl in my arms, washed and in a blanket. What were we going to name her?

"Nurse, would you mind going and telling my brother and his fiancée that they are wanted in here to meet their niece?" Edward said warmly. He was already in some sort of daddy mode and was cooing the bundle of joy staring up at us with chocolate brown eyes.

She nodded, smiled, and left the room quietly. I barely noticed. My little girl had a power over me that I could not shake off. All I could help but do was staring at the person who had been kicking me for the last 6 months.

"She has your eyes, Bells. They are so beautiful." Edward wrapped his arms round my abdomen and held his finger out for our daughter to hold. She squeezed it with all her might and little wrinkles appeared on her forehead to show her concentration. She was so tiny and delicate and beautiful and entrancing. I loved her already and I hadn't known her more than 5 minutes.

The door opened and Alice came in crying and then began to bawl at the sight of her apparently future niece.

"Bellsy, she is so gorgeous. I am going to dress this child so well and be her favourite aunt." Aha, she brought up the exact topic I wanted to discuss.

"Yes, Alice. What is this about you being her aunt? Are you two engaged?" Alice's face lit up and she leaned back against Jasper's chest and held out her left hand.

On it was the most stunning ring I had ever seen. It was Tiffany's to be sure. Jasper knew what Alice liked. The band was white gold and shined against her white paler, while the diamond glittered in the hospital lighting.

"Alice… that is so you!" I was very impressed at Jasper. He knew her so well.

"Congrats, bro. And I guess you are my sister now Alice." He let go of me for the first time in hours to hug his new baby sister.

"Alice, would you like to hold your niece? This is Vanessa Alice Rose Masen." I passed the baby to Alice's eager arms and then turned to my lovely boyfriend.

"Sorry Edward. I just came up with it and it seemed to fit." I put on my cute face that I knew he couldn't resist.

"Luckily, I love it." He grinned my favourite smile and kissed me.

"Now Alice, I am yet to hold my own daughter, so give her here." He took Vanessa in his arms and rocked her gently.

"Bella, we made one good looking kid." I laughed for the first time since my contractions started, which seemed like hours ago.

"We sure did baby."

**A/N So there you have it. Sorry it took so long but I am now on my hols so I will be more frequent at posting. Rose and Emmett re-enter the story in the next chapter and then we go into wedding frenzies with Jazz and Alice. **

**Thanks for reading. As ever, reviewing would be greatly appreciated. I love you all.**

**- sox1020**


	20. Chapter 20

**Here is the 20****th**** chapter… finally!! Thanks to all those people who have stayed with me through the chapters and always take the time to tell me what they thought in their great reviews! **

**I don't own Twilight**

**Update: Bella gave birth to Vanessa Alice Rose Masen and Alice and Jasper announced their engagement.**

**Chapter 20**

**Reunited**

BPOV

I sat in our new massive apartment on the most comfy couch ever, holding the most beautiful baby on the Earth. Vanessa opened her chocolate brown eyes and stared right at me and sort of smiled. I kissed her forehead and rocked her gently from side to side. I couldn't believe how much I loved her. I adored her. She was me and Edward; the proof of our undying love. Just then, Rosalie came out of her bedroom and sat next to me, beckoning at me to give her the baby.

In our new fancy apartment, there are three bedrooms; one for me and Edward, one for the baby and a spare room. This spare room has recently been occupied by our best friends Emmett and Rose.

They arrived about 2 hours after I was taken into recovery with Vanessa. Edward was sitting next to me, sleeping as he hadn't slept in over twenty-four hours. Alice and Jasper had gone home for a nap and would be back later to help me get home and settled seeing as my boyfriend was dying of lack of sleep at the time. Rose and Em had run into the private room hot and flustered as if they had run all the way from the airport.

"Bella what happened? Have you had the baby? Did we miss it?" Rose gasped with what little breath still resided in her lungs. I chuckled at the hilarious sight of them.

"C'mon Bells, give us a clue" Emmett pleaded. He was the same Emmett I remembered; caring, considerate and lovely.

"You missed it by 2 hours. The baby is in that cot in front of you and," as I said this, the baby had started to cry. My poor baby was scared because she couldn't see me from her position. "yep, she is crying. Do you mind passing her?" Rose leapt at the chance and carefully lifted my pride and joy out of her cot and cradled her in her thin arms. Rose cooed lovingly like a mother and bounced her gently, attempting to stop her crying. She laid the baby in my arms with the utmost care and watched with pride as I rocked my bundle of joy. Edward had woken at the sound of Ness's wails and looked up sleepily at his best friends.

"Em? When the hell did you get here?" He rubbed his eyes and stood up slowly and hugged his old friend and then kissed Rose on the cheek.

"Well we arrived about 20 minutes ago in the airport and we just got here but we didn't have time to book a hotel so we are currently homeless. Good looking kid, mate, well done." Emmett grinned and Rose voiced her agreement that the baby was indeed beautiful.

"Hey, she isn't just good looking, she is a future heartbreaker." Edward said indignantly and chuckled, then went on to invite Rose and Em to be the first residents of our spare room.

Rose sat next to me, holding Ness and had such a motherly look on her face that you could tell that she wanted a baby more than anything. Obviously, she and Em were going to wait for a more convenient time to conceive rather than in their second month of college.

"Have you and Emmett considered having a baby?" I asked, accidentally out loud. It was supposed to be an inward thought.

"Well, we aren't married yet and we want to wait at least until after that and we probably won't get married until after college because, quite frankly, we might get bored of each other. We met at 16 and have been going out since then. He is my childhood sweetheart, but the spark might not last for many more years and college is such a great place to meet people. Of course I love him with all my heart and soul, but, I don't know. I guess I am not ready to take the plunge quite yet. You and Edward, I know the pregnancy was not really planned to say the least, but you guys are so brave making this commitment so early in your lives. But then again, we could all tell you guys were going to be together forever. It was the torment in your eyes when you broke up. There was too much heartache for it to be a summer fling. I am so proud of you." She put her arm round me and gave my shoulder a squeeze. I laid my head on her shoulder and glanced down at Ness. Her round belly was gently moving up and down as she breathed. Her eyes were tightly shut and she was obviously sleeping, but I wanted more than anything for her to open them so I she could see me again. I wanted to hear her laugh, talk, sing. I looked up at the clock and remembered I had a post-birth check-up, in 20 minutes. Crap; I'm going to be late.

"Rose, do you mind coming with me to the doctor's for my check-up? I can't leave Ness yet, I'll miss her." Rose smiled, understanding.

"Of course. Let me get my coat."

We arrived at the doctor's surgery in time to walk straight into my appointment.

"Hey Bella, how is everything?"

"Fine thanks."

"Is this her?" He looked for my confirmation. I nodded. "She is beautiful."

"We think so too." I smiled and Dr. Langley chuckled.

"Bella, we are going to do a scan to see if there was anything bad which could have been the cause of your early birth. Sometimes the kids have just had enough and want more space. It's just a precaution so there is no need to panic. He scanned where few days ago there would have been a pregnancy bump. Then he scanned again and his face changed from a smile to a worried frown. He too a deep sigh and made eye contact with me. Now I'm freaking out.

"Bella, it seems there was no medical explanation for Vanessa's early arrival, but I have found something. I don't want you to be alarmed, but there appears to be a growth on one of your ovaries." He showed me the scan. A tangerine size something was blocking one of my fallopian tubes and was attached to my ovary. Cancer. Shit. I glanced a teary eyed expression at Rose to find she was in floods.

"Oh, Rosie. Don't cry for me." She laughed but the dropped of salt water continued to spill over her abnormally long and beautiful eyelashes.

"How did this happen? How could conceive a child with a tumour blocking the egg path?"

"It looks like it began growing during your pregnancy or maybe the month you conceived, the egg came from your other tube. Either theory is viable."

Unbelievable. Not that I don't love my baby, but if I had had sex with Edward a month before we did, she wouldn't be here. Is that bad luck and a sign I waited far too long to tell Edward how I felt or a close call that I didn't miss the opportunity to have a baby at all? This cancer could mean a hysterectomy. Why is it that I couldn't be blissfully happy for once in my life? The majority of my childhood was dull and ordinary. Then my early teens were dominated by premature heartache and self-harm. Then my late teens involved still more heartache and drama. College couldn't possibly be easy simply because it wouldn't fit with the rest of my totally screwed up life. Then finally, I get the love of my life back, we have a baby and are happy as two happy things with a baby. Why did my life have to turn shit again? Perhaps I am speaking too soon. They could get rid of this.

"How likely is it that they could just remove my ovaries and make it go away? I'm in my first year of college. I'm 19 for Christ's sake. I have a baby and a future fiancé to look after. Please tell me I'm going to live to see my 20s." I need the truth. My life with Edward is at stake.

"The oncologists upstairs will do a full body scan to see if there has been a spread. If there hasn't, you are more likely to get out of this with one operation. If it has spread, at least you have already had the baby so more aggressive treatments can be used. I will get you seen to right now." Dr. Langley walked across the room to his phone and dialled and began speaking to someone probably in the oncology department. I beckoned to Rose.

"Rose, can you take Vanessa home please. I don't want her second day on this Earth spent listening to someone talking to me about cancer."

"Okay." She turned to leave and I called out, "and Rose," she turned her head back to face me, "you are forbidden to tell Edward." She nodded and all I could do was trust her to understand and do as I asked.

It took me far too long to update this chapter… I apologise. Sorry to xavvi. I know the storyline is moving too fast for you. And sorry to all of you who will undoubtedly flame me!! Please don't!!!!!!!!


	21. Chapter 21

**Howdy readers, miss me? Of course you did, lol. I am extremely grateful that none of you flamed me over the cancer issue, though not many of you gave me your views either… reviews were a dwindled number for the last chapter. Tut tut. My first official lemon ever is in here somewhere. If you have any advice as to how I can improve then please review… I am a little nervous writing it, but I promised at least one in my summary. ******

**Here is the next part of my beloved story, keep an open mind.**

**Chapter 21**

**Details are so irritating.**

BPOV

I arrived home from the hospital in the mid-afternoon and was welcomed by an indignant Alice.

"When the hell did you plan on telling me you have cancer?!" She shouted, but I could hear the concern in her voice. Whether it was because she was worried I would kick the bucket before her wedding or whether she simply feared for my life because it was so precious to her, I am unsure, but she hugged me regardless.

"Alice, honey, I only just got back from the oncologists and they took a sample of the tumour and are going to run tests to see whether it is malignant or benign. They are also very optimistic that it is located solely in my unfortunate left fallopian tube and therefore I could lose just the one ovary and all will be well again." I watched her sigh from relief and embrace me again, saying, "Good, because I need my maid of honour alive and breathing."

She said it so casually that I almost missed it. I retreated from the hug and stared at her blankly, comprehending what she had just slipped out.

"I am your maid of honour?" I was so shocked the words came out slightly incoherent but Alice understood nevertheless.

"Naturally, you and Rose will share the post and give equally moving speeches at the reception. I would love you and Edward to carry Vanessa down the aisle with you as well. Jasper made Em and Eddie bestmen and Edward has been nominated to give the speech because Emmett will say something inappropriate about the wedding night or something else tragic and spoil the atmosphere." She rolled her eyes, reliving a conversation she had evidently had with her new fiancé and I giggled at the thought of Emmett giving an innuendo filled speech.

Hold on, Alice has distracted me from a minor detail. How does she know I may have cancer? Rose. Had I not specified for her to zip the lip and not breathe a word until necessary? I wandered to the couch where Rose was perched playing peekaboo with my two-day-old daughter. Vanessa's mouth was twitching and I could only guess that that was the best she could get to a smile at her minute age. I bent over and picked her up gently in my arms, cradling her and smoothly rocking her from side to side.

"Hello my gorgeous girly. How is Mommy's favourite baby doing today? Did Rose tell you Mommy is sick like she told Auntie Alice? Did she?" I turned to Rose and glowered.

"Rose, why is it that Alice bombarded me with c-a-n-c-e-r questions as soon as I walked through the door when I told you not to tell anyone?" I asked sternly, my glare maintained. I was so angry. Alice would almost certainly tell Jasper because that was the way she was wired and Jasper would worry and tell Emmett, seeking advice on whether to tell his best friend, a.k.a. Edward, my boyfriend and father of my baby who wouldn't sleep until the alleged cancer was gone. Emmett would then either tell Edward for Jazz because Jazz couldn't break the news, or blurt it out accidentally in an already awkward situation. Basically, my secret ceased to be a secret as soon as Rose opened her big mouth.

"Well, I looked scared and in deep thought when I came and Alice was already here with the wedding planner book hoping to talk colour schemes for designer bridesmaids' dresses, and she wouldn't quit asking what was wrong and rather than shout and upset the baby I just kind of blurted it out without thinking. My guess is 3 days 'til Edward finds out through our blabbermouth boyfriends/fiancés and I am so so sorry."

She did look really guilty and I guessed her nervously waiting for my reaction for around two hours was punishment enough.

"I forgive you, just don't tell anyone else, okay; especially my boyfriend, you know, Edward, the father of my baby?"

She looked at me with 'What do you think I am, stupid?' eyes and I transferred my attention back to my beautiful baby. I was just about to get comfortable next to Rose when Alice bounced over to us, having decided it was safe.

"Get comfy Bells, we are talking wedding colours right now. Detail is important so we are going to make sure the dress style is also fabulous and works with both of you. In fact you may want different cuts so we may have to talk about that too. I want you both is midnight blue because it is Bella's best colour and Rose suits all colours."

Hold on, is she saying I don't suit all colours?

"Alice, are you saying there aren't many colours that suit me?" I was a little indignant and insulted. True, midnight blue was my best colour, but I suited most other colours too.

"No honey, it's just that you are so pale that it cuts out a few wedding colours. You suits loads of colours. To be honest, Rose would look strange and too girly in pale pink anyway. And besides, I want my maids of honour to look fabulous, just not as fabulous as me; and so you shall." She beamed. Good save Ali.

We spent about an hour discussing the wedding at the Plaza until my poor baby decided she was hungry and I had to feed her. I had breastfed her in the hospital, but it hurt like hell and I wasn't looking forward to repeating the experience.

Rose and Alice ignored that I was now breastfeeding and continued our wedding discussion about what Vanessa would wear. Alice is for a little dress the same colour as ours and I am sure that it will be beautiful.

The door suddenly opened and my gorgeous Edward walked in accompanied by Jazz and Em. Alice squealed and ran into Jazz's arms, then told him of all our wedding talk. He rolled his eyes lovingly at the love of his life. Em bent over Rose's shoulder from behind her and began kissing up her neck and round her jaw to her rosy red lips. She giggled as he broke away and he jumped over the couch back and slumped next too Rose. She curled into his chest and he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close. I felt slightly left out until Edward appeared at my side and gently stroked Ness's head as she finished feeding. I covered up for our company and Edward took our daughter into his arms and cooed at her, rocking her and staring with adoration into her chocolate brown eyes.

"What have you been up to today?" Edward asked. What do I tell him? I can't lie. I'm stuck, I need a fairy godmother or a genie or and angel to come and tell me what to do. I stuttered, "I… had my post-birth check-up at the hospital and everything is fine."

Lies. Bella Swan, you are a big fat liar. I caught Rose's eye and dropped my gaze to my lap in shame. She was evidently just as disappointed in me as I was.

"That's great baby." He beamed then turned his attention to Vanessa. "Isn't that good Vanessa? Mommy is all healthy and good. And how is your second day in the world going?" Vanessa's mouth twitched.

"Great! We talked clothes for her for my wedding. Edward, you and Bella are carrying my future niece down the aisle with you and she and Bells are going to look heart-stopping in midnight blue. Em, Rose will look just as beautiful on your arm."

Em kissed Rose's forehead at this comment and Edward wrapped one arm round my shoulders.

"I can't wait Alice." He said happily. I couldn't wait either.

Jazz and Alice stayed for a quick cup of coffee and then had to rush off to meet with the wedding planner, courtesy of Alice's dad's credit card. Em and Rose said something about going out for dinner, so Edward and I had the apartment to ourselves.

In all honesty, I am nervous. Once the baby is asleep, Edward might want to… you know. This was unknown water. The last time we had sex, the baby happened. We have only done it once and it wasn't in the most romantic circumstances.

Edward and I discussed dinner and then he proceeded to cook the Cajun chicken and couscous we had decided on. I settled the baby and closed the door to her bedroom to prevent the sounds from the kitchen travelling.

I poured a glass of wine for each of us and we clinked glasses and Edward kissed me deeply on the mouth. We were forced to come up for air when Edward noticed the chicken was done and would soon start to burn.

Once we had consumed the delicious food, we carried our glasses to the couch and chatted about the day and Edward told me all that Emmett had updated him with.

I snuggled into Edward's chest. I hadn't realised how little I had seen him since the baby was born. We had barely swap two sentences until now and I had missed his smell, he wore Calvin Klein cologne and it mixed with his natural caramel scent, creating an aroma which was truly irresistible. He grazed my arms, then the exposed skin between my t-shirt and jeans, with the back of his finger. This caused goose bumps to ripple across my body. I then felt his lips seductively graze the back of my neck. They moved slowly, unbearably down onto my shoulder and then back up again. My hormones began to rage and my mind was screaming at me to pounce on him, reasoning 'he isn't doing this for kicks, or if he is then he must enjoy torturing you'. I decided to make him squirm alongside me so I slide my hand across his washboard stomach, closer and closer to his weakness. As I reached teasingly under the front of his jeans, Edward tensed. We both knew I had won, but at that point, I really wouldn't have cared if I lost. All I knew for sure was that if Edward didn't do something soon, I would. I needed him. Nine months had been far too long.

I felt Edward's heavy breath at my ear and he whispered in his sexy velvet voice, "Bella I need you… now."

It was all I needed, I swivelled round, straddling Edward as his soft lips crushed mine and I could taste the wine on his mouth. Our lips opened and our tongues danced together happily. His hands roamed my hips and back, then under my top where he subtly undid my bra clasp. At this my stomach twisted with nerves, but I trusted Edward. He is my boyfriend and baby-daddy after all. He would never hurt me. I slowly lay back on the leather couch, maintaining constant contact with Edward's mouth. He pressed his body close to mine and I could feel his well defined muscles through his thin t-shirt. My sexual frustration that had built up during my pregnancy was begging me to speed things up, but my head knew that I wanted tonight to be more than just sex; tonight I would make love with Edward. Unlike nine months ago, everything was clear. Our feelings were well established and this time it really would be special.

I was unexpectedly filled with overwhelming confidence and I sat up and broke away from Edward, beckoning him to follow me with a seductive finger. I walked as sexily to the bedroom as I could and Edward ran up behind me and lifted me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist and my hands wove into his hair, securing my lips to his. When Edward reached the welcoming and comfortable bed, he lay me down, leaning over so as to prolong our kiss. My mind was racing and my nerves were starting to get the better of me, but I pushed them aside. My only setback now was that I wasn't wearing particularly sexy undergarments. I had gone for comfort this morning seeing as I was still a bit sore after pushing something the size of a watermelon out of me only a couple of days ago.

Edward gently teased my top up my torso and then broke our lips apart to remove it completely. Luckily my choice of underwear didn't seem to be discouraging Edward from ravishing my upper body. He traced an invisible line down my torso with his lips, steadily increasing my heart rate way passed healthy.

Trying desperately not to tremor, I began to slowly unbutton his shirt, a low moan escaping his mouth as I teased him. The open shirt revealed his smooth pale chest and rock hard abs and I had to bite my lip to maintain control. My eyes scanned him for a little longer than was comfortable for him; I caught his eye, blushed scarlet and continued undressing him.

I moved to his belt buckle, undoing it and the button of his jeans. I purposefully grazed his aroused groin as I pulled the denim down to the floor. He stepped out of the jeans and knelt on the bed, gazing down at my half exposed body. He returned my gesture and removed my trousers too. I leaned forward off the sheets to kiss Edward again and as he returned my eagerness, he wrapped his arms around my waist and removed the already unhooked bra. He discarded it uncaringly onto the floor. Still a little self-conscious, I pressed myself against Edward's cool chest which he seemed to have no objection to. I hooked a finger on the elastic of his boxers and pull them down his toned legs and they fell to the floor with an almost inaudible thud.

.I marvelled at his impressive length and wondered how on Earth it had fit in me last time. Panic crept up on me like a ghost in the night and my anxiety was taking over my other many emotions.

Thankfully, Edward was able to calm me as he began a trail of kisses from my mouth, round my jaw, down my neck, through the valley between my breasts and still further passed my navel. He took the edge of my cotton panties in his fingers and dragged them seductively down my now quivering limbs, softly pecking the inner thigh of one of my legs.

He was definitely hard now and I felt a twinge of pride about the fact it was hard because of me.

This was it. There was nothing left to do now that we were both completely without a scrap of clothing. I had imagined the first time we would really make love for months now, but my mental pictures were not nearly as satisfying as the reality. I shuffled back a little, nervously, when Edward lay down beside me and whispered soothingly in my ear, "Don't be nervous, love. Just let your feelings take over." And he peppered my neck with kisses. I could feel the moisture at the entrance to my core and I moaned, though I had not meant to out loud. Edward took this as a signal to continue and positioned himself on all fours, straddling me. As instructed, I allowed my emotions to rule me and I pulled Edward's face towards mine, our lips locking in a frenzied passion. His scent was intoxicating and I was falling into a daze with the caramel and the gentle but firm touch on his mouth on mine.

I couldn't take it anymore. I broke away from his soft, red lips and breathing deeply murmured in his ear, "Make love to me, Edward." He didn't need to be told twice. He may have been the most amazing boyfriend over the last 6 months, but he was still a man with needs. He pushed his length in as gently as possible into my waiting centre and I gasped as I felt him inside me. He filled me and I hadn't felt anything half as pleasurable in my entire life.

At first, Edward's thrusts were tender as he tried and succeeded to pleasure me greatly, but I wanted more. I wanted to please him.

"Faster, Edward," I whimpered and his thrusts became deeper and more powerful. I moaned loudly and this spurred him on even more. I moved my hips to the rhythm he had set and I was delighted to hear him groan and gasped with pleasure as well as me. He was undoing me, pressing all the right buttons, finding the places that drove me crazy. How this came so naturally to him I will never know.

My pleasure grew and grew to the point where I couldn't feel my toes and my body was on fire. I was so close and my breathing had become gasps of air with anticipation.

"Come with me Edward." I panted and without warning I fell over the edge into a pool of ecstasy. "Edward!" I screamed as the pleasure reached a level almost too much to bear. Edward groaned as he came as well and kissed me hard on the mouth. "Bella." He muttered as our lips separated.

I was lost in a pool of bliss and I must have dozed off, because I opened my eyes and saw daylight attempt to penetrate the curtains at the wide window. I felt Edward's arm draped across my stomach and I didn't move, not wanting to disturb him. Somehow he must have noticed I was awake because I felt him caress my belly relaxingly. I twisted my body round to face him and saw his beautiful mouth twitch into the crooked smile that I couldn't resisted. I pecked his bottom lip and whispered, "Good morning."

He chuckled quietly and tightened his grip round my midriff.

"Good morning yourself; how did you sleep?" He opened his bottle green eyes and gazed adoringly into my chocolate brown ones.

"I slept like a log. I was wiped out after the most phenomenal sex last night with this guy." I muttered and giggled.

"Is that so? Well, guess what? I was in the same position also. My extremely sexy girlfriend treated me to the best sex I have ever had. We are definitely going to do it more often." He teased and I stared at him shocked and gob smacked. Was he serious? It was my second time; how could I possibly have been the best he had ever had?

"Really, the best you've ever had?" I teased, but I was curious. Even though there weren't many people Edward could compare me to seeing as he has only been with me and… Tanya, it was still very nice to hear.

"The very best; in fact, I would wager it is the best anyone has ever had. Would you not agree?" He challenged.

"I would indeed. It was miles better than the last sex I had, which didn't go so well." Edward narrowed his eyes because he knew that he was the last person and the only person I had slept with. I continued to clarify, "Last time I had sex, I ended up pregnant, which was a bit of a shock." Edward grinned again and tickled the curve of my back.

After lying in bed for what seemed like hours, replaying last night in our heads, we were brought abruptly back down to Earth when a baby's cries rang through the apartment.

"I'll get the baby, you get the pancakes ready." I said and scrambled out of bed searching for underwear and a robe as quickly as possible. I gave my love a quick wink as I stole out of our bedroom and ran into my daughter nursery to the baby-pink crib where I found her wailing at the top of her lungs.

Having established that she needed a diaper change and a feed, I sat in the rocking chair in the corner of the yellow wallpapered room and gazed lovingly at Vanessa as she suckled my breast milk.It was moments like these when I felt most like a mother. Rose could do most of the other stuff and more importantly, she wanted to. But this, this was the best trick in my mothering repertoire and Rose couldn't take over. It was such a personal time when my eyes were fixed on my baby girl and she maintained eye contact with me. It was like we were having a silent conversation.

Having changed and dressed Ness, I carried her carefully through to the kitchen to the sounds of batter sizzling and the smell of cooking chocolate. Emmett and Rosalie had since appeared and were perched on barstools at the counter, waiting hungrily for their pancakes.

"There are my girls." Edward said proudly as we came into his line of vision and I noticed Rose and Em exchange looks.

"So…" Emmett said awkwardly, apparently stifling laughter, "you guys sounded like you were enjoying yourselves last night." Rose burst into fits of giggles and Emmett guffawed. My cheeks burned with embarrassment.

**Fin. Please comment on my lemon as I would love any points for improvement or I would appreciate praise for it if that is what you think I deserve. It is my first lemon, so don't be too harsh please! I will try to update soon. Thanks- sox1020 ******


	22. Chapter 22

**Greetings my beloved readers… I apologise profusely for my terrible delay in this next chapter. I am in the middle of my AS and am struggling to keep up with my course work…. So you should all be impressed that I have ignored it all to write this. Hopefully you all enjoyed my updated version of chapter 21 and if you haven't read it then do! My lemon has been improved and extended. **

Chapter 22

The truth always comes out… in the end.

BPOV

I felt mortified. Had we really been so loud? My cheeks were scarlet by this point and Edward was, sexily, biting down on his bottom lip to stop himself laughing at me. I decided to deny all allegations.

"I have no idea what you are referring to Em." I answered as matter-of-factly as possible but Emmett was never going to be fooled. His laugh rang through the apartment and Rosalie's bell-like chuckle chimed in along side it.

"You can't fool us Bells. We could hear you clear as if we were in the room with you. I can't believe Ness didn't wake up to those screams." Rose remarked and then returned to her giggling. She took the baby from me and I went to stand next to Edward, who was watching the pancakes. He put his arm round me and kissed my forehead, then whispered into my ear, "Don't deny it. They are just jealous we were enjoying ourselves so much when they weren't. By the way, the blushing, so sexy." I looked up into his emerald eyes. Only honesty was in them. I couldn't understand why my seriously irritating instinctual blush was so appealing to him, but I wasn't complaining if he liked it.

"Just make sure you're being safe this time. Ness would probably like a few years to herself before the next one comes along. Remember, always use a condom." Emmett winked and I punched him from across the counter, indignantly. He had a point though. Edward and I had been very careful last night and I was going to get the Pill today with Rose after going to the hospital. My test results were in and I had decided to leave Edward out of it until I knew what they said. He and Emmett were on baby watch. I have to say, I was a little wary of leaving her so soon, but I didn't want to be able to tell her when she was older that she was there when they told me I had cancer.

"Honey, Rose and I are going to do some shopping, you're still okay to watch Ness, right?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Sure, babe, Em and I will try not to kill her, which might be hard because neither of us has had to deal with babies before. It should be fun." He grinned lovingly and I rolled my eyes.

"Just don't let Em teach her the swear words and you'll be fine." I teased and walked to the hall closet to get my and Rose's coats.

As we left the apartment, I took one look back at my life, as it was presently; happy, normal and cancer-free. Hopefully when I got back it would be exactly the same.

EPOV

Emmett was supposed to be helping me change Ness's diaper, but he was avoiding me.

"Em, come here and help me with this diaper right now!" I called, to no answer. Now I realised how valuable Rose was, doing all the gross baby stuff.

With the baby changed and clean, I brought her out of her room and sat on the couch with her on my knee. Emmett miraculously appeared and plonked himself down beside us.

"Nice of you to join us Em. Convenient that you appear once the work is done." I looked at him sternly as it was seriously unfair. Sure Ness was my baby, but Emmett was supposed to be helping me!

"Sorry, I was… in the bathroom." He said unconvincingly.

"Sure, sure. What do we do now?" I didn't really know what to do with Ness now that she was taken care of. She can't really do much. She can't even hold her own head up. How Rose can just sit and glaze at her for hours is beyond me. She is the most beautiful baby known to man, but after about ten minutes, I would start thinking of other things to do.

"I don't know, man. Put her in the crib and let's play video games." Emmett insisted, but just as he finished his sentence, Ness started to wail, loudly. For a small human being, she had the lungs of a flog horn.

"What do I do, Em?" I was panicking. I changed her already, what else could she want? Food. I ran to the fridge having handed her over to a startled Emmett. I found 2 bottles of formula in the fridge Bella had helpfully left for us and took one, placing it in the microwave. I checked the temperature of the milk before offering it to my daughter. It took me a few minutes to suss out how to feed her in the correct position, but eventually she lay comfortably in my lap, gulping the her warm drink.

"Okay Eddie, enough of the secrecy. How was last night?"

As uncomfortable as I was considering telling Emmett anything about last night; how totally mind-blowing it was, how I nearly died from the ecstasy, Emmett didn't want to hear all the mushy love talk. Emmett was only interested in the technical side. For example, Emmett considers someone to be bad in bed if they can't get their girl to come. It seems a reasonable conclusion until he says that if it even happens once then you have a problem. Then there is the number of times the girl is… fully satisfied. These were the types of details I wasn't necessarily embarrassed about sharing, just that it really wasn't his business. I decided to thoroughly irritate him by giving him nothing significant to go on.

"It was good Em, really good." I grinned, but he frowned, annoyed at my closed answer. I continued, "The rest is nothing to do with you, Em, I won't embarrass Bella by telling intimate details of our sex life to you. I know as well as you do that you'll never let her hear the end of it. If you heard her scream, that should be enough for you." I chuckled, remembering Emmett's comment from breakfast. I must have been very good to make her so audible. I had personally never heard Rose scream from my room. Does that make me better than Emmett on bed? "For God's sake Edward, is sex all you can think about?" I mentally scolded myself.

Looking down at my baby, I noticed she had fallen deeply asleep. I held her carefully in my arms and carried her into her room, settling her on the soft pink wool blankets in her crib.

Sitting back next to Emmett, I wondered what my beautiful Bella was up to?

BPOV

Rose and I had been waiting for nearly half an hour, but the receptionist had said that the oncologist was running a little late. Finally, Dr. Langley came out of his room and called my name.

Rose positioned herself on the chair next to me in front of Dr. Langley's desk. She had clasped one of my hands in hers and was squeezing it lightly. It was almost like she needed as much comforting as I did.

"Bella, I wish I had better news. Your last scan was a Stage 1 progressing into Stage 2, which means that it was localised to one ovary but in the process of spreading into the fallopian tube. You have gone from Stage 2A through 2B and 2C, which are slightly worse Stage 2 progressions, right to the mildest form of Stage 3. When I say mild, you must understand that that is in perspective compared to how much worse it can get. Right now, the cancer has spread into the fallopian tube and out completely into the small intestine. It is moving fast enough that in a week it will be at your liver."

I couldn't hear this. Not now. I can't be dying; I have a baby and Edward; Edward, who I haven't married yet because we wanted to wait a bit. He is the best man in the world and I love him, and now I am leaving him.

"Bella? I am so sorry, I have overwhelmed you, but this is important. You need to prepare yourself. My estimate is that you have 3 months to live if you do nothing. With chemotherapy you will have longer and it may it stop the cancer long enough so we can blast it all out. I strongly suggest you do the chemo sessions."

I turned my head to stare at Rose, searching for… something. She was red and her cheeks were drenched in salty tears. She tried to speak but the only sounded that escaped her lips was a hoarse grunt. She cleared her throat and muttered under her breath, "Have the chemo, Bells. We can't lose you yet. I won't let you refuse it and we are going to tell everyone today; even Edward." She looked at me sternly, daring me to argue. I nodded, agreeing with her fervently. I had hidden this from Edward long enough.

"Okay Rose, but I have to tell Edward first. We'll have Alice and Jazz over for dinner and we'll tell everyone else then. Edward comes first." She took my hand as a sign that she supported me and would do as I asked.

On the way home, Rose and I went shopping to try and take our mind off the fact that I am dying and spent too much money on a new dress each. Mine was loose fitting blue silk with a loose snakeskin belt. The neckline was low, but not so it was slutty.

We returned home to find Edward and Emmett playing video games with the baby nowhere to be seen. I dropped my bags and ran to her room without even asking Edward where she was. She lay peacefully asleep in her crib; the blankets tucked right up under her chin. I breathed a sigh of relief and left the room quietly so as not to disturb my sleeping angel. Edward and Emmett had stopped playing, confused at my actions.

"Sorry, I just couldn't see her. Ignore me." I said, feeling embarrassed by my unnecessary behaviour. Edward was Ness's father; he could look after her for much longer than a few hours without me. I should never have doubted him.

I glanced at Rose; a signal we had come up with on the way home. She took her cue.

"Emmett, baby, come on a walk with me. I haven't seen you for ages and I want us to have some alone time." Rose used her irresistible voice and Emmett obliged instantly, taking her hand and following her out the door. As soon as the lock clicked, Edward rounded on me.

"What is going on Bella? Why does Rose suddenly want to be with Emmett in nature as opposed to the bedroom?" My mouth twitched at his last question, imagining if she would ever really be in that situation without an ulterior motive.

"She's doing it for me. She knows I have something important to tell you. You need to sit for this." I could feel my voice break at the last words. Edward sank to a sitting position on the couch but looked seriously worried. I felt my knees give way, so I sat next to him. I knew I couldn't look him in the eye when I told him, so I lay against his chest, his fingers intertwined with mine.

"Edward… I'm sick." It was all I could get out before he stood up, knocking me and causing me to almost fall from the couch. Once I had steadied myself, I located Edward looking out he window, evidently trying to come up with a reasonable response.

"What's wrong with you?" He whispered the words, choking on them like they made him nauseous.

"I have advanced ovarian cancer, Edward." I said clearly but the tears that were hiding behind my eyelids came over the top and spilled down my face. He spun immediately and ran to me, wrapping his arms around my waist, and then lifting me, taking my legs over his arm. He sat down, settling me on his lap and I lay my head on his shoulder. I felt his tears in my hair.

"How long do I have you?" He could barely vocalise the words due to his crying, and they broke my heart; the idea that I would lose him and the idea that I would break his heart from me leaving him. I would die leaving a broken man and his illegitimate daughter.

"If we do nothing; 3 months tops. If I get chemo, it's unclear. It depends how the cancer reacts to the radiation. We need to prepare for the worst according to the doctor." He squeezed me tightly.

"Hey," I whispered, "We need to make sure that if the worst does happen that Vanessa stays with you. I don't know how her being technically illegitimate will affect her if I…" I couldn't say 'die', Edward would probably start bawling and I wouldn't be able to cope with that. His pain was my pain and I couldn't hurt like that or hurt him like that.

We sat in silence for what seemed like hours, just in each other's arms. It was as if we would rather spend whatever time I had left together, not doing anything in particular. Without warning, Edward spoke up.

"I want you to get the chemo. I know it has awful side effects, but I can't just sit here and watch you die without knowing we tried everything." He was very serious, but I wasn't going to refuse him. I had decided to get the treatment almost the second after I broke the news to him. To be honest, he had a point. I wouldn't just give up when I had a chance at life when so many other women had no hope at all. I have been thrown a lifeline, and though it might break before I'm safe again, who am I to refuse to grab hold with all the strength I have.

"Okay, I'll go and see Dr. Langley in the morning and sort it all out." I twisted my body so we lay chest-to-chest and rested my head on his white cotton t-shirt.

"I'm coming with you to see him tomorrow. I want him to fill me in."

There was nothing I could say to respond so I kissed his chest through his t-shirt and replaced my head in its previous position. His scent was intoxicating, causing me to slowly drift off.

"She told you guys before me! How long has she known?" I heard Edward's voice break through the deafness sleep gave me. I had hoped that the girls would be more discrete about the fact that they knew about my cancer. I cracked my eyelids open a fraction and saw Emmett sitting in the armchair just to the left of me with Rose on his lap stoking his arm with the back of her hand. In the other armchair, Jazz was looking stern towards a stood up Alice. Apparently Alice had spilled the beans about her knowing about me.

"She has known for a couple of days, since her post-birth scan." Alice revealed, sounding upset but this had to stop. I should be the one on trial here, not my best friend. I opened my eyes fully and I caught Rose's eye. She gave me a look, saying 'You are in trouble'. I winked and sat up to find a thoroughly pissed off boyfriend.

"Isabella Marie Swan, is there any reason good enough to explain why you kept your cancer from me for a full week while others present, who may I add are not your boyfriend, knew all along? I can't believe you did this!" He shoved me roughly aside and stormed to the kitchen, retrieving a beer from the fridge. He offered one to Em and Jazz, but they politely refused. He didn't return to my side, but leaned against the counter in a strop.

"Edward, stop that right now!" I was so angry I almost screamed at him. Luckily it wasn't too loud or I might have woken my sleeping baby. I was on my feet in a rage. How dare he put this on me when I was trying to protect him. He would have never forgiven me if I had told him and then the results were negative. Okay, maybe he would have, but I was so convinced this way was better. Hold on, that isn't even why he is mad. He's mad because I told the girls first. Shit… how do I explain this one so it will make sense.

"You can't get mad at me. I would have felt awful if I had told you before when I wasn't sure and then it all turn out okay, because if I told you before it would have felt more real. I told Rose because she was here and Alice wasn't around to come with me. I knew she would sit and hold my hand and not overwhelm me while I was in there. She was so supportive" I choked at this point and tears began to flow down my cheeks. Rose lifted herself out of Emmett's lap and came over to hold me. "You were so great Rose and I will always owe you for that. When she came with me to the results it was a perfect situation because you had a chance to bond with Ness on your own which would be important if the news was bad and Rose would just be with me in case." I clung onto her a little tighter as a 'thank you'. "You would have been in pieces on the floor in that office, baby, and I couldn't handle that. I had some time to accept it and think about my options. You had no idea and everything was normal. I didn't have cancer for a few more hours."

I let go of Rose and walked quietly across the carpet and stood face to face with my love, tear tracks visible on my reddened cheeks.

"I'm sorry. What is important now is that you know now and you are here for me, because without you, I can't do this." His eyes had been fixed to the floor, but at my blubbering words, he looked up. His expression was unreadable but his feelings were made clear when he pulled me into a fierce kiss. He wrapped his arms round my frail frame and locked his hands together. Our lips broke apart and I leaned my head on his chest. He kissed my hair and murmured for my ears only,

"I will never leave you." I started crying again, the salty droplets soaking into Edward's t-shirt.

"Bells, have you told your parents? They would want to know." Alice's question sent me into shock-mode. I hadn't told my parents. I hadn't seen them since before I had the baby; they said they were planning to come up soon to see her now we had settled. How the hell was I supposed to tell them this?

"No" I whispered and Edward tightened his grip. I couldn't take the tension in the room. I needed to breathe. I needed fresh air. I gently pushed away from Edward's body and backed up to lean against the fridge.

"I need… fresh air. Edward, come with me." I gave him a pleading look and he returned a nod. I looked across the room and locked eyes with Rose. She was pink in the face and had stale tear tracks visible on her well defined cheekbones. "Watch my baby for me." She answered the same way Edward had moments before and Edward and I left the apartment hand in hand.

**So there you have it folks… the unbelievably long wait for this chapter is over… hope you like it. The end of the story is in site, so stay tuned.**

**Thanks and REVIEW!!! **

**-sox1020**


	23. Chapter 23

**To my beloved readers, I have made a decision on the outcome of my story. You may not think it does the story justice, but after all the turmoil of their relationship, I felt E and B deserved this. I hope I don't get flamed for being merciful!!!**

**BPOV**

I was in the waiting room. The whitewash walls were almost trying too hard to add a cheerful spin to what the reality of being in this room meant. This was the chemotherapy waiting room. Edward hasn't left my side since we left the apartment last night.

_Last night_

We walked in silence down the stairs to the lobby entrance and, mute, ambled along the empty pavements until we reached the park. Edward led me to the bench located by the swing set. The swings were moving lightly back and forth in the wind and squeaking quietly, like a beckoning call asking us to come and sit. Edward sat, leaning against the cold wooden back of the bench, and though it was built to sit two or three more, he pulled me onto his lap and hugged me tight to his chest. I stroked the back of his hand with my thumb and lay my head back on his shoulder.

"I'm not scared Edward" I whispered under my breath. I hadn't thought I was daring enough to say it out loud.

"I'm scared for you then" he replied equally as quiet. Then suddenly he shoved me off his lap, allowing me to land heavily on the wooden seat.

"Actually, strike that. What the hell do you mean you're not scared? I'm just sitting here picturing my life without you forever and I haven't even finished college yet. Then I remember I am a nineteen-year-old with a three-week-old daughter that, no matter how many people are around to support me, I will have to raise alone. Please tell me you meant something completely different, because I cannot for the life of me understand how you could not be scared."

He was so angry and I didn't respond at first because I couldn't think of a good way to answer.

"I… I have thought about this. I am worried that the chemo will make me too sick to play with my daughter, and that I won't get to watch her become a woman and marry someone who is half as in love with her as I am with you. I am upset and angry that I might miss the chance to spend the rest of my life with you and walk down the aisle in the white dress. The dreams I have had since I was fifteen and fell in love have been shattered. Dreams of growing old surrounded by grandchildren, and when our children have all left home, running around our bedroom spraying whipped cream with no concern of how loud we are being."

I was crying now, thinking of all of this, and Edward's expression had softened and remorse washed over his features. I took his hands in my own and held then to my face. It was comforting.

"But what I am not the least bit concerned about, is what will happen if and when I go. Because I know in my heart that you will be the best daddy I could have picked for the one child I leave on this earth. I know that you will eventually move on with your life and find someone new who will make you feel almost as good as I did; and that will be enough for you to be happy. And I have no doubt that you will visit me and tell me all about your life and how wonderful it is."

I looked up into his eyes, my own glazed with tears, and smiled.

"I love you. I'm going to fight this. Now let's not waste one more second talking about this." I pull lightly on his shirt, bringing him down to my level and kissing him.

He carried me all the way back to our apartment and over the threshold. He didn't adjust my position in his arms once making me feel totally weightless. We passed straight through the living area full of our closest friends and our daughter, and into our bedroom. Edward laid me down on the bed and slowly teased my shirt off.

He orientated all of his attention to my needs only, so much so I came four times before we collapsed in a sweaty mess under the bed sheets. I lay in Edward's arms in a daze, listening to the beating of his heart. His warm body was comforting and all I could do was savour the moment. My one wish was that I would have endless nights like this.

**2 months later…**

BPOV

"The chemo therapy isn't working!" I screamed. He didn't understand, he never would. He isn't in my body; he can't feel the pain and appreciate how much effort it is to walk one step.

"You have to give it a chance baby. If you give up you will only have so much time. I can't lose you and neither can your daughter!" He yelled back.

I hate it when he plays the Ness card. He knows that I love her more than anything and that the last thing I want is for her to grow up motherless.

"I'm tired baby. I can't take much more of this. I'm weak, bald and sore everywhere. This damn treatment is going to kill me before the fucking cancer does!" Edward has never been this forceful before. He looks desperate and afraid and I don't blame him.

In the last 2 months, mets have appeared on my liver, pancreas and cervix. I had a radical hysterectomy to remove the cervical cancer and ovarian cancer, but for the rest of it, the chemo is not making any effect and all my friends are really worried. Alice and Jasper's wedding is coming up and I want to live to see my best friend walk down the aisle with the boy I watched her grow up in love with. I hate to worry them. They are my best friends in the entire world. They are my family in New York and everywhere else for that matter.

I wish I could give them some piece of mind, but I am tired all the time and cannot do strenuous exercise. I can only hold Ness when I am sitting on the sofa and I can't carry anything. The chemo is taking all my energy and I have lost a lot of weight. I never realised how thin I was 'til I was losing body mass by the week. Edward almost force-feeds me these days and I take in as many calories as possible. My hair was all gone about a month ago; that was a hard week. I couldn't leave the house, my embarrassment was too great and I wouldn't listen to Alice, Rose and Edward's encouraging words of "It isn't bad, you are beautiful!" I can't be mad at him for very long. I am always afraid that the last word I say to him will be terrible.

Edward beckoned me into his arms on the couch and, checking Ness in her crib next to the coffee table, I obliged.

"Edward, the chemo is just making me feel awful. They can't cut the cancer out and they can't treat it effectively anymore. I want to live to see our best friends get married and then as long as I have in me after that. I want to enjoy life and feel good before I die. We haven't had sex in 2 months and that is a damn shame because, as I recall though I may have a foggy memory, we were really good at it."

I smiled at my beautiful man and he chuckled and smiled in agreement.

"You know there is one thing I will not go without doing before I go; marrying you. I want to marry you Edward. No flashy big wedding, just our closest friends and our parents are enough. I want us bound for eternity." I looked deep into his eyes and kissed him and he returned my kiss with a passion I had not seen in 8 weeks. I had missed it.

"I thought the guy was supposed to propose?" he chuckled and kissed me again.

"Go on then. Don't let me steal the limelight if you are that desperate to ask me," I grinned in anticipation. He lifted me gently off his lap and onto the soft couch cushion and knelt down on one knee. It was so corny I could have sworn we were in a bad teen movie, but somehow it was perfect. Now I know why those girls in the movies always say yes.

"Isabella Marie Swan, will you marry me?" He took my hand and kissed the back of it.

"Yes"

**That's all for now folks. I will try and update soon but I am just about to start my A.s. levels so be patient, bad grades does not a med student make! **

**PPPPPLLLLLLEEEEEEAAAAASSSSEEEEEE REVIEW!!!!!**


	24. Chapter 24

**Hey everyone, it's been a long year since my last post… I am sorry for that, but I am now done with school so can update much more frequently, but not for this story as this is the second to last chapter… I know, sad right? This was my first story and we broke 100 reviews a while back, and I am hoping to hit 200 once I complete… I know that a lot of people don't read incomplete stories… I sure as hell don't, as I am too impatient to wait for the next chapter! I just want to say thanks to everyone who has stayed with me for the Elasticband Theory and your support has been incredible! Please read my other stories, Clash Notes and The Nessie Files. They are getting some good attention! So here is the chapter…**

**BPOV**

"Bella, I am very sorry, but we knew this time may come, and it has. We can't do anything else for you. We predict you will have maybe a month at most." I stared at the doctor but wasn't really seeing. I had always hoped my cancer had just been stubborn and not want to move until the last possible moment; kinda like me in the mornings. I couldn't tell Edward. He wouldn't have sex with me again before the end, he wouldn't look at me the way I loved that made me feel so damn sexy despite my baldness. He was just going to cry or something. That would be unbearable.

I stood up, shook my doctor's hand, "Thank you for everything," and left, still in a daze. I had to go straight to Alice's final dress fitting and I was already running late. The wedding was in a few days and we had decided the bachelorette party would just be painting our nails and face packs and general spa type treatments the night before. That way I could participate (no booze when you are in the middle of a chemo cycle) and Alice wouldn't be tempted to see Jasper.

Alice looked beautiful. That was really all there was to it. She was in Vera Wang. The gown was ivory and had a strapless corset bodice and a huge skirt. She looked like a princess, like I knew she would.

Edward and I have planned to marry at home with our best friends and our parents with the minister kindly conducting the service from our bedroom so I can lie down. I can't imagine being capable of standing for the service, and I don't plan on fainting from exhaustion in the middle of my vows.

"Bella!" Alice squealed from the mirrors she was standing in front of. Rose was having her bridesmaids dress altered. Alice had picked a beautiful deep purple for our dresses; floor length and mine had a halter neck to hide all my tubes.

"How did it go at the doctor's?" she had her worried expression on, so I did the one thing to save the mood of the most important day of her life… I lied.

"I was great, he says the cancer cells are shrinking. It looks like I am going to make it!" Alice's face glowed and Rose came over too to join the hug Alice had forced on me.

I have never lied like that to Alice before. I hate myself but I would feel worse if I ruined her special day.

I tried on my dress and I still looked reasonably pretty in it, despite the pale and chemo-damaged skin and lack of hair and chapped lips.

"Bella, you look beautiful." Rose put her arm around me. She knew what I was thinking and I loved her for it.

The wedding was stunning. Jasper looked handsome as ever and Alice looked even better than she did at the fitting. Edward was looking dashing as the best man and while the vows were being said, he mouthed, 'you look beautiful' across the steps between us. His mom was holding baby Ness, who was on her best behaviour and had not cried or fussed once.

At the reception, everyone was dancing and drinking and celebrating, and all I could do was think about the fact that in less than a month I would be gone.

Would they miss me? Would they notice my absence? How long would they cry for me, if at all?

Edward brought me some cake, and I nibbled at crumbs of it, only to appease him.

It was crazy to think we were nearly 20 years old and already my life was over, but I was going to die married with a child. My friends were getting married. My mother was going to have another baby. Everything was so accelerated.

I didn't last long at the reception. We said our goodbyes and wished our congratulations and best wishes to the bride and groom and left. Ness was asleep and how I wished I could be too.

Edward tucked me into bed as soon as Ness was settled and in her crib. I was awake for long enough for him to shower and curl up beside me, holding me close.

The next day was a blur. I woke up, managed some breakfast and sat on the couch with my baby in my arms. Then…

**Sorry folks, this is a sad one.. This cliff hanger will be followed by an epilogue.. maybe two… I haven't decided… PLEASE REVIEW!**


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